Dead Ducks (Guest: Barbara McQuade)

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On our political radar this week…

AI created satire (in case you couldn’t figure that out!)

There are dead ducks everywhere. In Switzerland, it could well be J.D. Vance’s presidential ambitions as the 60-day pause in Trump’s War is looking shakier by the day. In Lansing, it’s the almost invisible but now dead campaign of state Senate GOP Leader Aric Nesbitt’s gubernatorial campaign, with the final blow coming from Donald Trump. And in the nation’s capitol, it’s literally dead ducks … at least three of them spotted in the Trump-created algae-laden cesspool also known as the Reflecting Pool.

In addition to the Nesbitt departure, there are a few other developments in the GOP race for Governor. Donald Trump has given is “Full and Complete Endorsement” to John James, and Perry Johnson is spending more of his millions on a massive statewide advertising blitz. Expect Mike Cox to do the same

State House Speaker Matt Hall says there’s agreement on a framework for a state budget … you might call it a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). But as Vance and the two real estate developers are learning in Switzerland, there’s a big gap between an MOU and actual results.

There’s big news about the 250th national birthday celebration in Washington D.C. In addition to a riveting 90-minute rant from Trump, you can look forward to a performance from renowned country singer Alexis Wilson … best known for her ongoing role as Kash Patel’s girlfriend.

President Trump had another hissy fit this week, delaying the signing of a bipartisan housing bill. He announced he won’t sign the legislation until the Senate passes his voter suppression bill which he calls the SAVE Act. The bipartisan 21st Century Road to Housing Act, aiming to ease the U.S. housing affordability crisis by streamlining construction rules, promoting local innovation and restricting large investor purchases. It passed by overwhelming majorities in both chambers. Trump clearly places a higher priority on voter suppression than housing for Americans who aren’t wealthy like him.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is celebrating a reversal by Homeland Security, which says it has cancelled plans to turn a warehouse in Romulus into a prison for undocumented immigrants. Former Homeland Director Kristi Noem spent more than $1-billion buying 10 warehouses … all of them for prices well above their appraised value. Taxpayers will lost hundreds-of-millions as a result of Noem’s hugely unpopular program.

In New York City, the Mamdani slate swept the very Democratic city. In two non-Big Apple races, the winners for Democrats included women military veterans … including Vice Admiral Jenny LaCore, who was fired last year by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as part of his purge of top military officers. She’s running for the seat formerly held by Nancy Mace who opted to run for Governor (which she lost). Republicans will clearly try to brand the entire Democratic Party as captive of Mamdani Democratic Socialists. Does that work for them?

And since our last episode, a celebration…but only if your name is Trump. Carvana or CarMax has delivered Donald Trump’s new ride. It’s a slightly used imported gold-encrusted airplane (a.k.a. $400-million bribe from Qatar), tastefully detailed with a whole lot of electronic do-dads, all paid for by U.S. taxpayers at a cost of around a billion dollars. Trump plans to keep it as his White House going-away bauble. This moment of joy in MAGAvillemoved us to create a musical tribute to Donald’s Golden Dream Machine which, for our YouTube viewers, also includes a brief photo tour of the free-but-not-really-free gift to Trump.

Joining the podcast is law professor, author, podcast co-host and MS NOW legal analyst Barbara McQuade. When she’s not teaching future lawyers at the University of Michigan or fulfilling her multiple media commitments, Barb is a prolific author. Her latest book’s title gives a concise summary of what follows: “The Fix: Saving America from the Corruption of a Mob-Style Government.” The book is number one on the Amazon’s national and international security rankings, and lucky number 13 on this week’s New York Times non-fiction best sellers.