The Racket

Articles

We're in it now

1 week ago | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Your browser does not support the audio element. You’re probably familiar with the case of Kilmar Abrego García. If you aren’t, you need to be: He’s the Maryland man the Trump administration admits it mistakenly deported to a torture prison in El Salvador in March. It isn’t just that Abrego García has no criminal record. Since 2019 he has been legally protected from deportation under orders from a Trump-appointed immigration judge.
What JD Vance meant by 'free speech'

2 months ago | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Your browser does not support the audio element. This is part one of a two-part post. The rest will be in an issue for premium subscribers, hopefully tomorrow. Be ready for it by upgrading now!In Munich, on Valentine’s Day, Vice President JD Vance gave what wags regard as a “major speech.” It wasn’t a long speech, or a particularly surprising one for those of us who’ve been watching and understanding Trumpist turn for the last ten years or so.
Narrowing the borders

Jan 24, 2025 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

The firehose is back. As during the heady days of Trump I, there are so many insane and dangerous things going on at once that it’s impossible to cover them all, which will no doubt be a theme of the next four to forty years. The gaslighting about shadow president Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at the inauguration parade has been well covered elsewhere.
The free speech event that wasn't

Oct 20, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Your browser does not support the audio element. Bari Weiss came to town last week for an event titled "Where Do We Go From Here? The Future of Free Speech on College Campuses." It was built around a screening and discussion of a new short documentary on the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley, which began sixty years ago this month. And, reader, it was weird.
The New York Times is ready for fascism

Oct 14, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Your browser does not support the audio element. Yesterday, about forty minutes into a crucial town hall, Donald J. Trump just gave up. The heat was cranked up too high inside the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center (not a new problem there apparently), and at least two people in his audience fainted. Pouring sweat, tired of answering his supplicants’ questions, he ordered his team to crank up the music.
A Haitian perspective from Springfield, Oh

Sep 10, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Busy viewers were likely confused when, halfway through last night’s presidential debate, Donald Trump started ranting about immigrants eating dogs and cats in Springfield, Ohio. The moderator, David Muir, responded with a narrow fact check (“… there have been no credible reports of specific claims of pets being harmed ….”). Pundits treated the lie as a curiosity.
Substack's Nazi problem isn't going away

Sep 3, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Well hello there, old can of worms. Today, before news broke that even alleged Russian agents think Tucker Carlson is an “overt shill” for their boss, the social webs were abuzz over the latest guest on his new streaming show.
JD Vance's 'post-menopausal females' interview is even weirder than you thought

Aug 18, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

With inflation easing and Democrats basking in convention euphoria, MAGA pundits and political commentators all have the same suggestion for the flailing Trump campaign: the convicted former president needs to “get back on message.” “Stop with the personal attacks on Kamala Harris,” a reporter advised during a press conference last week at Trump’s Bedminster golf club. “Talk about the economy and talk about immigration,” an anonymous GOP congress member pleaded through CNN.
Will Bibi (or Iran) deliver Trump's October surprise?

Aug 12, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

Things are going well for Kamala Harris and the Democratic ticket these days. While she and prospective running mate Tim Walz open up a lead over Donald Trump in both national and swing-state polls heading into the Democratic convention, the twice-impeached, multiply-convicted former president is floundering — holding pointless events in Montana and Mar-a-Lago; sitting for a toothless, glitchy interview with fellow con artist Elon Musk; and flying around the country on Jeffrey Epstein’s plane.
'Everything is legitimate to do!'

Jul 30, 2024 | theracket.news | Jonathan M. Katz

This newsletter promises to “explore the unseen connections behind world affairs, politics, disaster, and more” — but, reader, it is hard to keep up. I already had a full plate of topics to cover, just in the U.S. and the Middle East alone. Then, last night, Israel decided to accelerate a wanton assassination spree in a way that could drag the entire region into an all-out war — and with it, potentially, upend the recently upended U.S. presidential election.