Arun Gupta

Let’s review.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) called Daniel Penny a “hero” after the 24-year-old former Marine killed street performer Jordan Neely on a subway despite the fact New York Police Department sources said Neely had not become violent that day, May 1, nor had he threatened Penny.

Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) has vowed to pardon Daniel Perry, who in April was convicted of murdering Garrett Foster in July 2020 during a Black Lives Matter protest in Austin, Texas, after Perry texted a friend, “I might have to kill a few people on my way to work, they are rioting outside my apartment complex," and drove his car threateningly into a crowd before shooting Foster....

The May 4 conviction of former Proud Boys national chairman Henry “Enrique” Tarrio and three other leaders on charges of seditious conspiracy and dozens of others was made possible by the Proud Boys themselves.

Before, during, and after the Jan. 6 insurrection that briefly stopped the congressional certification of Joe Biden as president, the Proud Boys took credit for storming of the U.S. Capitol that resulted in five deaths.

Simply put, the Proud Boys thought they could get away with it because … they had almost always gotten away with it. ...

If you are freaked out that Donald Trump might be elected president again, don't panic.

President Joe Biden’s approval rating may be an all-time low of 37 percent. Trump may be trouncing him by five points in a hypothetical rematch. And Biden’s age looks to be the “But her emails” of the next year’s campaign.

But the motto of Bill Clinton’s winning presidential campaign in 1992 still holds true today: “It’s the economy, stupid.” If employment and wages hold up and inflation ticks down, Biden should emerge victorious after the polls close on Nov. 5, 2024. ...

But there is another element, rarely discussed, that makes “Succession” without equal. To borrow a phrase from Trump’s 2016 campaign, it takes right-wing politics seriously, not literally.

In “Succession,” a Fox News-like ATN founded by Logan Roy, a monstrous aging patriarch, rules the airwaves and politics. Flashes of ATN leave no doubt as to its politics. It packs enough hate into its chyrons to make Tucker Carlson envious: “Equality Activist Caught With Child Porn ‘Bonanza,’” “Gender Fluid Illegals May Be Entering the Country ‘Twice,’” and “Tech Giants Plan to Force America to Eat Lab-Grown ‘Human Meat.’”

“Succession” feels real while steering clear of the real world. There’s no pandemic, no January 6 insurrection, no Trump — just a weak-kneed conservative in the Oval Office nicknamed “the raisin.” ...

If one thing did in Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder who was found guilty today of seditious conspiracy for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, it was his decision to testify on his own behalf.

Rhodes was on trial with four other Oath Keepers. Kelly Meggs, a member of the far-right militia, was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, while the other three were acquitted of that charge. All five were convicted of obstruction of an official proceeding and aiding and abetting.

While on the witness stand, Rhodes came across as anything but credible. Federal prosecutors had built a strong case to prove the three components of seditious conspiracy: that there was a conspiracy, forced was used, and the goal was “to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States.” ...