Democrats Weigh Dumping Jerrold Nadler for Jamie Raskin in House Judiciary Committee(Snakes at each others Throats for Power)NYT's

Nov. 30, 2024, 5:02 a.m. ET.1/2

Some House Democrats want to oust aging committee leaders like Representative Jerrold Nadler in favor of younger lawmakers who they see as better suited to take on the president.

House Democrats are considering pushing aside some of their most senior leaders from top posts in the next Congress, driven by a worry that aging members are not up to the task of countering President-elect Donald J. Trump and his loyal Republican allies in Congress.

The debate has grown most intense in recent days as dozens of Democrats have been privately pressing Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland to challenge Representative Jerrold Nadler of New York for his position as the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee. They are doing so out of concern that Mr. Nadler will be ineffective in pushing back against any efforts by Mr. Trump to abuse his power.

Mr. Nadler, 77, the dean of New York’s congressional delegation, has made it clear he has no plans to step aside. And while Mr. Raskin, 61, is mulling a challenge, he has not yet decided whether to pursue one, according to colleagues familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.

“As a New Yorker, I have stood up to Donald Trump my entire career,” Mr. Nadler wrote in a letter to colleagues announcing his run for re-election to the post, in which he emphasized his history of going after Mr. Trump. “When he became president, I led the Judiciary Committee’s efforts to hold him accountable for his various abuses of power, culminating in two historic impeachments.”

Mr. Raskin, a former professor of constitutional law, developed a progressive fan base for his work as the lead impeachment manager against Mr. Trump in 2021 and as the top Democrat on the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol that year. He is seen by many colleagues as more aggressive, articulate and shrewd than Mr. Nadler when it comes to taking on the former and future president.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been among those privately encouraging him to challenge Mr. Nadler, according to the people familiar with the internal discussions.

Mr. Raskin and Mr. Nadler are also close friends, making the internal drama even more uncomfortable. Mr. Nadler led the whip operation for Mr. Raskin’s run for the top post on the Oversight Committee, which he now occupies. They are both members of the unofficial Jewish caucus in the House.

Neither responded to requests for comment.

House Democratic leaders have stayed neutral, telling members that the caucus “should work its will” in an internal election to choose the top Democrat on the panel.

But even that seemingly innocuous statement marks a break from the typical stance of Democratic leaders, whose policy in the past has been to protect incumbents in top posts on House committees and discourage challengers.

Representative Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York and the minority leader, declined to comment for this story.

The intraparty intrigue exemplifies how Democrats are trying to regroup in the wake of Mr. Trump’s victory and the G.O.P.’s sweep of Congress, and mount a more effective opposition to Mr. Trump and his MAGA allies on Capitol Hill.

Many Democrats expect that the Judiciary Committee, headed by Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio, one of Mr. Trump’s closest and most combative allies on Capitol Hill, will be the center of the action next year. It is where important fights will play out over the independence of the Justice Department, the rule of law and presidential powers, and reproductive rights.

There has been growing discontent among some Democrats about Mr. Nadler’s leadership of the committee. Some grumble that he rarely veers from talking points, whereas Mr. Raskin is seen as a sharp-tongued debater more adept at spontaneous sparring.

Progressive Democrats in particular have been pushing aggressively to get Mr. Nadler out. One prominent activist on the left warned that should he fail to step aside voluntarily, Mr. Nadler could end up like Senator Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who was forced to take a hiatus from the top Judiciary spot at the age of 89, long after it had become clear that her health and cognitive issues had made it impossible for her to be effective in the post. She died less than six months later.

“Jerry Nadler is a legend in Congress and New York who will inevitably step aside at some point in his political life,” said Adam Green, the co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. “The question is: Will it be more as a Nancy Pelosi or a Dianne Feinstein?”

https://archive.is/qKrIC

>>22090154

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There is no sign that Mr. Nadler is suffering from any health issue or cognitive decline similar to Ms. Feinstein’s.

The powerful Judiciary Committee is not the only one poised for a potential shake-up. Across prominent House panels, Democrats are considering elevating more combative, slightly younger lawmakers over aging bulls whom many regard as past their prime and unsuited to the hand-to-hand political battling of the Trump era.

On the Committee on Natural Resources, Representative Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona, 76, the current ranking member, is facing a challenge from Representative Jared Huffman of California, 60. Mr. Huffman is mounting an aggressive campaign, sending out memos noting that he has outperformed Mr. Grijalva in fund-raising and dues paid for six cycles in a row.

“With the shock wave of Trump’s ‘First 100 Days’ agenda about to slam into our committees, effective committee work led by our ranking members will be critical to limiting the damage from Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, advancing our affirmative agenda, bolstering members in tough districts and drawing contrasts that enable Democrats to reclaim the House majority in 2026 or sooner and make Hakeem Jeffries speaker of the House,” Mr. Huffman wrote in a letter to his colleagues announcing his run.

On the Agriculture Committee, Representative David Scott, Democrat of Georgia, 79, is being challenged by Representative Jim Costa, Democrat of California, 72.

“With the incoming return of Donald Trump to the presidency, our caucus needs a leader who will fight to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), defend the historic investments we made through the Inflation Reduction Act and bring a strong Democratic message back to rural America,” Mr. Costa said in a letter to colleagues announcing his run.

Mr. Raskin, however, is dragging his feet. As he has waffled over whether or not to challenge Mr. Nadler, some who want him to do so haveinvoked a line that Ms. Pelosi often quotes: “No one gives you power. You have to take it from them.”Still Mr. Raskin, who prizes his reputation for kindness and integrity, is wrestling with whether to undercut a more senior colleague who is not ready to go and has privately expressed anger about a potential challenge.

“Jamie is a cut above — he is so widely respected and is such a star, he’s just one of our very best,” Mr. Huffman said. When asked about the encouragement Mr. Raskin has received to run, he said: “It probably reflects the high esteem he’s held in.”

Mr. Huffman declined to comment about Mr. Nadler.

In his letter to colleagues, Mr. Nadler wrote that he wanted to continue serving in his post “at a time when the very fabric of our democracy is threatened by the incoming administration and their allies in Congress.” He said that he and his colleagues on the Judiciary Committee would stand as “a bulwark against the MAGA majority’s dangerous agenda.”

As the top Democrat on the oversight panel, Mr. Raskin has positioned himself as a leader of the resistance to Mr. Trump’s agenda. Over the past two years, he has tried to embarrass Republicans on the committee and make sure there are professional consequences for launching investigations without merit. He has warned House Republicans about the risks and consequences of blindly following Mr. Trump, to little avail.

He has also encouraged the younger Democrats on his committee, including Representatives Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, to vocally push back against Republicans on the committee. And he has done so himself.

After Republicans let it be known that Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia would be leading a new subcommittee in the incoming Congress to partner with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to “eliminate government waste,” Mr. Raskin lashed out in a snarky statement.

“So now a noted student of American government, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, will chair a subcommittee to work with two unvetted billionaires who stand to receive billions more in government contracts and subsidies from the government under Trump,” he said.

But with the Republican sweep of the White House and both chambers of Congress, Democrats are anticipating that it will be the Judiciary Committee, and not the Oversight Committee, that will be the center of the action next year to push back on Mr. Trump.

https://archive.is/qKrIC

WSJ. By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

Sales of Bibles Are Booming, Fueled by First-Time Buyers and New Versions. Dec. 1, 2024. 1/2

Publishers attribute a 22% jump in Bible sales this year to rising anxiety, a search for hope, or highly focused marketing and designs

Cely Vazquez, a 28-year-old artist and influencer, recently bought her first Bible and documented it in a video published on her TikTok account.

Hallelujah! Bibles are a bright spot in books this year.

Worries about the economy, conflicts abroad and uncertainty over the election pushed readers toward the publication in droves. Bible sales are up 22% in the U.S. through the end of October, compared with the same period last year, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. By contrast, total U.S. print book sales were up less than 1% in that period.

“People are experiencing anxiety themselves, or they’re worried for their children and grandchildren,” said Jeff Crosby, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. “It’s related to artificial intelligence, election cycles…and all of that feeds a desire for assurance that we’re going to be OK.”

Cely Vazquez, a 28-year-old artist and influencer who has appeared on the reality TV show “Love Island USA,” recently bought her first Bible—one from the “She Reads Truth” line—at Barnes & Noble.

“I’ve had Bibles that my mom gave me, but I felt I needed my own to start my own journey, that it symbolized I was starting a walk with God,” she said. “I felt something was missing. It’s a combination of where we are in the world, general anxiety and the sense that meaning and comfort can be found in the Bible.”

Bethany Martin, manager of the Faith & Life Bookstore in Newton, Kan., said she is selling to lots of first-time Bible buyers. “They’re looking for hope with the world the way it is, and the Bible is what they’re reaching for,” she said.

Faith & Life’s website offers more than 270 Bibles, including a $95 leather-bound giant-print option and a $7.99 pocket-size New Testament. Others sell graphic novel Bibles, reference Bibles in a rainbow of color options, versions intended specifically for men and teens and early readers, audiobooks, and even one bound in goatskin, priced at $832.50.

In March, President-elect Donald Trump endorsed the “God Bless the USA Bible,” which sells online for $59.99 and isn’t included in Circana BookScan figures. Oklahoma’s education department recently purchased more than 500 of those Bibles for local schools, the Tulsa World reported, referencing copies of purchase orders.

The demand for Bibles is rising despite evidence that the country is growing increasingly secularized.

The Pew Research Center found that about 28% of adults in the U.S. now consider themselves religiously unaffiliated. Yet Bible sales rose to 14.2 million in 2023 from 9.7 million in 2019, and hit 13.7 million in the first 10 months of this year. Readers are also stocking up on related titles that provide guidance, insights and context—even sets of stickers to flag particularly meaningful passages.

Sales of other holy books such as the Hebrew Bible, the Qur’an and the Bhagavad Gita are included in broader categories and aren’t broken out separately by Circana BookScan.

Publishers say the books are selling well at religious bookstores, but also on Am.com and at more mainstream retailers. People buy print copies to make notes in and highlight, but often supplement them with audiobooks as well.

The proliferation of new editions and innovative designs has made this a golden age of Bible publishing. The demand may be driven as much by highly focused marketing efforts as by people seeking answers to difficult questions, said J. Mark Bertrand, founder of Lectio.org, a website about Bible design.

“I’d like to say there is a craving for knowledge of scripture, but a lot of smart people are thinking about Bible marketing and catering to every whim for Bible study,” Bertrand said.

(Can't post the WSJ link

>>22090174

2/2

Tyndale House Publishers, a major religious publisher, offers a range of Bibles, including those specifically for young adults, said Amy Simpson, publisher of its Bible division. For instance, Tyndale has a colorful study Bible with maps and charts, and biographies of biblical figures, aimed at students.

Simpson said there seems to be a surge in engagement particularly among members of Gen Z and college students. “You have a generation that wants to find things that feel more solid,” she said.

HarperCollins Publishers, which like The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corp, cited Bibles among a handful of particularly strong sellers in its latest earnings report. Also on the list was the memoir of Vice President-elect JD Vance, “Hillbilly Elegy.”

The proliferation of new editions and innovative designs has made this a golden age of Bible publishing.

HarperCollins Christian Publishing, which describes itself as the country’s largest commercial Bible and Christian book publisher, attributes the demand to two distinct groups: the spiritually curious, who are perhaps picking up their first Bible, and those seeking a deeper sense of spirituality and expanding existing Bible collections.

Buyers are further energized by celebrities not typically known for their faith deciding to openly share it, said Mark Schoenwald, president and chief executive of the group. For instance, he pointed to NBC star Savannah Guthrie’s recent book, “Mostly What God Does: Reflections on Seeking and Finding His Love Everywhere.”

Amber Cimiotti, a 38-year-old mother of two in Henderson, Nev., attributes the increase in Bible sales in part to podcasters and Tiktokers like herself sharing easily digestible stories about Christianity.

She started to read the Bible this year after feeling unfulfilled by years of advice on self-care, staying healthy and pursuing a career. She said she also sought stability as “things just went off the rails a little too quickly” throughout society. “We’re kind of holding on to the edge of the ship, like, we’re not sure what’s happening here.”

Rev. Blaine Crawford, pastor of the Irvington Presbyterian Church in suburban Westchester, N.Y., said he is seeing renewed interest in study groups. The Bible is a “grand epic story of the great questions of life. What do we do with grief or anger, what are we here for, where is the world going? The Bible provides a counterpart in a conversation about what we’re doing at this time.”

https://archive.is/Inx2j

Jake Sullivan Gives White House Perspective When asked About Kash Patel. KEK

December 1, 2024 | Sundance |

The operators inside the FBI silo are stunned about the announcement that Kash Patel “will serve as” the next FBI Director.Conspicuously, their primary conduits for narrative pushback, The New York Times and Politico, are rather docile with only one article in each online publication.

Joe Biden’s National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan was asked earlier today for a White House reaction to the announcement. Here’s the short segment about that issue. WATCH:

“What makes the F.B.I. director different from most other nominees is they’re not just appointed for one term of a president,” Mr. Sullivan said. “They’re appointed for enough time to last past two terms of a president, because they’re supposed to be insulated from politics.” ~ Jake Sullivan

(That didn't work out so well did it?)

https://youtu.be/dD_dkw3DML4

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/blog/2024/12/01/jake-sullivan-give-white-house-perspective-when-asked-about-kash-patel/#more-266881

>>22090231

Jake looks very afraid and ragged.Pretending to be president for four years must be a hard job.

Jake and the Russia, Russia, Russia collusion hoax conspirators could still be prosecuted. So could all those FBI that colluded with them, and the ones that "raided Mar A Lago" go to jail. Don't think the statute of limitations are up. And especially John Durham's proof they did many illegal things and chose not to prosecute them.

Maybe Durham should ve charged with two or more hoax's on the citizens of America, seemingly these criminals would be charged, it was s fucking bait and switch by him

And Barr

Jake when did the Bidan admin stand by long standing norms in government, was it 4-6 times they tried to lock up Trump for life, like that norm?or arresting peaceful protestors, or the zillion crimes they committed on Trump, his staff and supporters.

Or the norm not to accelerate the war in Ukraine since Trump Won with the goal of WWIiI with Russia? Etc

Jake, pray tell, show us one fucking norm the Bidan Admin adhered to in his last fucking four years? Just name one you tool

>>22090231

Please anons comment on this fool and his lies. If I was on twitter I'd be posting like a mad man on that X.

Jake should be investigated personally by Kash and the best FBI agents of all time.

It seems Bidan feels like Trump will not do anything to him. Trump won't do it, it will be the DOJ and the FBi

Look what just arrived, she'll love her Christmas present. Yeah I know I shouldn't have opened it but I had to check it for damage.

>>22090463

Thk you for opinion agent. How many of you are on here today. You seem upset. Don't cry

>>22090557

Really true, the pics of her and her family are beautiful, you can understand her, by seeing her parents

>>22090264

Well that's awful is that true?

>>22090282

Cool

From past bread don't know which one

>>22089098

That is freakingnotablea Trump supporter put a QR code on his shirt, a person walks up took the picture of it, and it brings up Trump video dancing saying,Trump is your president

Anon that posted it, post it again with title. Bravo

>>22090587

We didn't lose him, he was put to death for treason. Think about that