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I will be back next week

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0:37

But for today, for I wanted

0:39

to share a series of audio

0:41

essays essays some of our fellow

0:43

fellow writers writers what what Biden should

0:45

do do his final weeks in

0:47

office. The world The world that's

0:49

full of crises and interesting challenges

0:51

presents many more opportunities for

0:53

late -breaking action. action. So hear a

0:55

lot of suggestions from my colleagues

0:58

about how the Biden from could

1:00

still act on issues like

1:02

Ukraine, Gaza, judicial nominations,

1:05

and could even more on issues So

1:07

enjoy and have a very

1:09

happy holiday season and a

1:11

merry Christmas. and

1:13

yes, even more pardons.

1:15

So enjoy and have

1:17

a very happy My

1:20

name is Michelle Goldberg, and I'm an opinion columnist

1:22

at The New York Times. Lame

1:24

duck presidents are limited in what

1:26

they're able to do, but one

1:28

power they do have is the

1:30

power of the pardon, as as

1:32

well as the power to commute

1:34

criminal sentences. And typically they

1:36

use this to pardon individuals, can

1:39

but you can also use

1:41

it to pardon whole classes of

1:43

people. And that's something that

1:45

I hope that Joe Biden will

1:47

consider. Biden

1:50

should pardon everyone who

1:52

could be prosecuted under

1:54

the the Act by

1:56

the Trump by the Trump administration.

2:00

Comstock Act is an 1873

2:02

anti-vice law that, among other

2:04

things, banned the mailing of

2:07

contraceptives and tools used to

2:09

perform abortion. And for decades

2:11

now, the Comstock Act was

2:13

considered a dead letter, but

2:16

it was never fully repealed.

2:18

When Roe v. Wade was

2:20

overturned, you started to see

2:22

conservatives agitating for its enforcement,

2:25

especially around the mailing of

2:27

abortion pills. So last year,

2:29

J.D. Vance and about 40

2:31

other Republicans signed a letter

2:34

demanding that the Justice Department

2:36

start enforcing Comstock. Well,

2:38

Donald Trump has said that

2:40

he's not interested in enforcing

2:42

Comstock. It's not very clear,

2:44

A, whether he really knows

2:47

what it is and whether

2:49

he would notice if people

2:51

in the Justice Department decided

2:53

to take it up. So

2:55

there's a fair amount of

2:57

fear that this could be

3:00

used to prosecute not just

3:02

doctors in blue states who

3:04

were sending abortion pills to

3:06

women in states with abortion

3:08

bans, but also abortion funds,

3:10

pharmacists, many other people who

3:13

are involved with the distribution

3:15

and provision of abortion through

3:17

the mail. And so one

3:19

of the ways that Joe

3:21

Biden could not just protect

3:23

people that could be threatened

3:26

if the right makes good

3:28

on its threats to enforce

3:30

the Comstock Act, but also

3:32

just highlight its salience in

3:34

a way that might make

3:37

it harder for the right

3:39

to engage in these really

3:41

unpopular prosecutions would be to

3:43

pardon anyone who might be

3:45

subject to these kinds of

3:47

investigations and prosecutions. And in

3:50

some ways, the effect of

3:52

such a pardon will be

3:54

limited. You can't pardon someone

3:56

for quote unquote crimes that

3:58

they could commit in the

4:00

future. you could remove any

4:03

potential liability for them and

4:05

also just ensure that no

4:07

investigation gets a head start.

4:13

So I also think that

4:15

Joe Biden should commute the

4:17

sentence of Charles Little John,

4:20

a former contractor for the

4:22

IRS, who leaked the tax

4:25

documents of many different billionaires,

4:27

including Donald Trump, but also

4:30

Elon Musk, Jeff Basos, to

4:32

show just how obscenely little

4:35

many of them were paying

4:37

in income taxes. The New

4:39

York Times relied on the

4:42

documents that Little John leaked

4:44

to show that in 2016,

4:47

Donald Trump had paid just

4:49

$750 in federal income tax,

4:52

and that in 10 of

4:54

the previous 15 years, he

4:57

hadn't paid any income tax

4:59

at all. pro-publica used the

5:01

documents to show that there

5:04

were years where Jeff Basos

5:06

paid zero income taxes. He

5:09

showed that Elon Musk had

5:11

paid no federal income taxes

5:14

in 2018. It revealed the

5:16

obscene inequality built into our

5:19

tax system and the judge

5:21

in the case sentenced Charles

5:24

Little John to five years

5:26

in prison, even though the

5:28

sentencing guidelines recommended four to

5:31

ten months. So he has

5:33

now served time and Joe

5:36

Biden could commute his sentence

5:38

and by doing that I

5:41

think make a statement about

5:43

the importance of journalism in

5:46

trying to shed some light

5:48

on the affairs of a

5:50

class of people who are

5:53

going to be both more

5:55

powerful and more unconstrained than

5:58

ever. Joe

6:01

Biden right now stands

6:03

atop a party that

6:05

is unbelievably dispirited, often

6:07

terrified, wracked with feelings

6:09

of futility, think that

6:11

giving people who supported

6:13

him a win on

6:15

his way out the

6:17

door would both mean

6:19

a lot substantively, but

6:21

could also inject a

6:23

little bit of energy

6:25

and hope back into

6:27

parts of the Democratic

6:29

coalition. I'm

6:38

David French. I'm a columnist

6:40

for New York Times opinion.

6:42

I was in Kiev in

6:44

2023 and I was there

6:46

when the Russian missiles were

6:48

coming in. I saw the

6:50

courage of the Ukrainian people.

6:52

I saw the lines of

6:54

ambulances of casualties coming in

6:57

from the front. I saw

6:59

the damage and the destruction

7:01

all around Kiev from Russian

7:03

aggression. There is a lot

7:05

of concern that after Donald Trump is

7:07

sworn in, that he's essentially going to

7:09

cut off Ukraine and that he'll be

7:12

cutting off Ukraine at a particularly dangerous

7:14

time in the war. And so here

7:16

is where President Biden has an opportunity

7:19

to exert some real leadership. from

7:23

the beginning of the war,

7:25

Western powers froze more than

7:27

200 billion dollars in Russian

7:29

assets. That is a sum

7:31

of money that could really

7:33

assist in propping up the

7:35

Ukrainian economy, propping up Ukrainian

7:37

arms purchases. It would be

7:39

a tremendous assistance to the

7:41

Ukrainian war effort, plus a

7:43

real blow to Russia if

7:45

they were permanently deprived of

7:47

those assets. And so, The

7:49

proposal is that President Biden

7:51

spend at least some of

7:53

his remaining time in office

7:55

trying to persuade our Western

7:57

allies to not just freeze

7:59

the assets, but seize the

8:01

assets. for the use of

8:03

the Ukrainian war effort. Thus

8:05

dealing an immense financial blow

8:07

to Russia and providing a

8:09

financial windfall to Ukraine that

8:11

Ukraine could use to continue

8:13

its war. If

8:18

you're going to be talking to

8:20

historians 100 years from now, it

8:23

is certain that they're going to

8:25

be talking about the war between

8:27

Russia and Ukraine as one of

8:29

the hinge moments in our history,

8:31

if an aggressor like Vladimir Putin,

8:33

is granted a victory in circumstances

8:36

like this. This is a direct

8:38

threat to the security relationships that

8:40

have kept the world safe from

8:42

great power war for so long.

8:44

What may well happen when Donald

8:46

Trump takes power is he just

8:49

cuts off Ukraine. So if we

8:51

cut off Ukraine, not only will

8:53

Ukraine be financially crippled, it could

8:55

also be militarily crippled in some

8:57

very important ways, but the thing

9:00

that is not as obvious is

9:02

actually, they're Russians under pressure too.

9:04

And a lot of people forget

9:06

this. The Russian military is taking

9:08

extraordinary losses right now, both in

9:10

men and equipment. And so both

9:13

Ukraine and Russia could be theoretically

9:15

reaching sort of near the limit

9:17

of their ability to prosecute this

9:19

war. Right now, the danger has

9:21

been that Ukraine would be reaching

9:23

a critical point before Russia. If

9:26

you could get Ukraine's sufficient support

9:28

in these last couple of months

9:30

before the Trump administration takes power,

9:32

they might be in a position

9:34

of greater strength if and when

9:36

ceasefire or armistice negotiations take place.

9:41

I think that seizing that money

9:44

for the use of the Ukrainian

9:46

war effort, it would be a

9:48

tangible way of saying to a

9:50

people who are exhibiting extraordinary courage

9:52

under fire, who are laying everything

9:54

on the line to defend their

9:57

nation against Russian aggression, it is

9:59

a tangible way of saying the

10:01

American people are with you. And

10:03

we're doing everything that our political

10:05

process allows, that the law allows,

10:08

that our strategic interests permit to

10:10

keep you and support you in

10:12

this fight. I'm David Firestone. I'm

10:14

Deputy Editor of the Editorial Board.

10:16

The big arena for stopping a

10:19

lot of what Trump wants to

10:21

do is not going to be

10:23

Congress, but it's going to be

10:25

the courts. The most important thing

10:27

that Biden and the Senate can

10:29

do from now till January 3rd

10:32

is to appoint as many federal

10:34

judges as possible, both to the

10:36

district level and to the appellate

10:38

level. If

10:41

they leave any, they can seize open on

10:44

the federal courts, those are going to be

10:46

filled by Donald Trump once he gets into

10:48

office. He's going to use every one of

10:50

those open things to appoint one of his

10:53

judges, and they're probably going to be even

10:55

more extreme than they were during his first

10:57

term. There are still

10:59

some senators and the Democratic caucus

11:01

who are raising objections to some

11:03

potential nominees that are getting in

11:06

the way of full confirmation and

11:08

it's unfortunate because this is going

11:10

to be the most important battleground

11:12

going forward once Trump takes over.

11:14

Virtually all of his plans are

11:17

going to be immediately challenged by

11:19

lawyers from around the country in

11:21

the federal courts. People

11:25

understandably look at the Supreme Court

11:28

because those are the most prominent

11:30

judges in the country, but really

11:32

they should be taking a closer

11:34

look at lower court judges both

11:36

at the district and the circuit

11:38

court level, because in many cases

11:40

those are the judges who make

11:43

decisions that affect people most closely.

11:45

Only a tiny fraction of the

11:47

big cases go to the Supreme

11:49

Court. A lot of the decisions

11:51

that affect people's lives are made

11:53

at the lower levels and stick

11:55

because the Supreme Court can't take

11:57

them all. Trump appointed about 231.

12:00

and circuit court judges depending on

12:03

how you count them. Many of

12:05

them were mainstream conservative judges, but

12:07

many of them were also very

12:09

extreme. They even veered from standard

12:12

mainstream conservatism toward a definition of

12:14

executive power for Trump that went

12:16

beyond conventional thinking. The entire case

12:19

against Trump for mishandling classified documents

12:21

has been thrown out by Trump-appointed

12:23

federal judge Aileen Cannon. Cannon is

12:25

being heavily scrutinized with critics arguing

12:28

she's pushed to trial beyond the

12:30

election by slowing down the legal

12:32

process. They impose cultural norms on

12:35

abortion that were even turned down

12:37

by the Supreme Court. An unprecedented

12:39

decision late Friday from a federal

12:41

judge in Texas, suspending FDA approval

12:44

of the abortion pill mythopristone. The

12:46

ruling could limit abortion access even

12:48

for women in states where the

12:51

procedure is legal. It looks like

12:53

the people who are going to

12:55

be advising Trump in the second

12:57

term are pushing even more extreme

13:00

judges than the first turn. That's

13:02

why it's a great concern and

13:04

why so many Democrats are urging

13:06

their party to get as many

13:09

judges on the bench as possible

13:11

before that can happen. I'm

13:18

Nick Christoph. I'm a columnist for

13:20

the New York Times. For decades,

13:22

I've reported about humanitarian crises around

13:24

the world, and in recent months,

13:27

I've reported both from the Middle

13:29

East and from Sudan. In the

13:31

final weeks of President Biden's term

13:33

in office, I'm thinking about how

13:35

we can best use his influence

13:37

and his political capital to advance

13:39

American interests around the globe. President

13:42

Biden came into office

13:44

with a reputation as

13:46

a real foreign policy

13:48

expert. To my surprise,

13:50

I've actually been somewhat

13:52

disappointed with where Biden

13:55

has left foreign policy.

13:57

Overall there's a series

13:59

of historic including

14:01

growing atrocities in Sudan and

14:03

a looming famine there, and

14:06

maybe above all, the war

14:08

in Gaza, perpetuated with American

14:10

weaponry, so that that conflict,

14:13

I think, has become the

14:15

albatross around President Biden's neck.

14:19

Sudan is probably the world's

14:21

worst humanitarian crisis right now,

14:23

and President Biden has been

14:25

publicly silent about the role

14:27

of our partner in the

14:29

United Arab Emirates in providing

14:31

weapons to the most brutal

14:33

of the militias there in

14:35

ways that perpetuate mass murder,

14:37

mass rape. and the fan

14:40

there. So President Biden should

14:42

publicly speak up about the

14:44

United Arab Emirates, and I

14:46

think that speaking up can

14:48

raise the costs of this

14:50

deplorable role on the part

14:52

of the UAE and can

14:54

lead it to play a

14:56

more constructive role there. And

14:58

then in the case of

15:00

Gaza, It's time for Biden

15:02

to adhere to American law,

15:05

which says that offensive weapons

15:07

can't be shipped to a

15:09

country as long as it's

15:11

impeding the flow of humanitarian

15:13

aid. And every aid worker

15:15

I've spoken to has no

15:17

doubt that that is what

15:19

Israel is doing. And I've

15:21

seen Biden over the decades

15:23

talk about morality in foreign

15:25

policy, but in the case

15:27

of Gaza he has continued

15:30

to ship weapons and they

15:32

have been used as part

15:34

of a effort that appears

15:36

to have killed more than

15:38

40,000 people in Gaza that

15:40

UNICEF says is Now, the

15:42

world's worst place to be

15:44

a child. The International Criminal

15:46

Court has issued an arrest

15:48

warrant for Prime Minister Netanyahu

15:50

for war crimes and crimes

15:52

against humanity. But Biden has

15:55

used American influence in the

15:57

UN. to protect Netanyahu's government

15:59

while continuing to provide him

16:01

that endless supply of weaponry.

16:03

From my point of view,

16:05

Biden has been rolled by

16:07

Netanyahu, and the only way

16:09

to get his attention again

16:11

is to use leverage to

16:13

withhold offensive weapons. Other presidents

16:15

have done that, but somehow

16:17

Biden has just been too

16:20

weak. At

16:23

the end of the day, I'm unfortunately

16:25

quite confident that Trump was going to

16:27

reverse these steps, but Biden would at

16:30

least end on a note of enforcing

16:32

American law and pressing to end the

16:34

war and to recover Israeli hostages rather

16:36

than endlessly fueling that conflict. I think

16:39

the next four years are going to

16:41

be a really difficult time for those

16:43

of us who believe that our foreign

16:46

policy has to reflect values as well

16:48

as interests. But

16:50

in truth, the

16:53

last four years

16:56

haven't been so

16:59

great either. And

17:02

this is President

17:05

Biden's chance to

17:08

begin, albeit too

17:11

late, to remedy

17:14

that. A

17:16

president in their final weeks

17:18

in office has limited power

17:20

to do new things, but

17:23

there is one power that

17:25

I'd particularly like to see

17:27

him use, which is the

17:29

power of a president to

17:32

designate new national monuments. And

17:34

what that means is that

17:36

he has the power to

17:38

take federal lands and to

17:41

place them in a protected

17:43

status that largely precludes their

17:45

use for commercial purposes like

17:47

logging or mining and reserves

17:50

them for recreational purposes and

17:52

just to be preserved land

17:54

in a state of nature.

17:56

I would particularly like to

17:59

see President lands. The

18:01

second is adjacent to Joshua Tree

18:03

National Park. It's called the Chihuahua

18:06

Mountains. And the third is a

18:08

stretch of desert down by the

18:10

Mexican border. All told, this is

18:12

about 1.2 million acres of land

18:15

stretching from north to south in

18:17

California. What's

18:20

special about these three pieces of land

18:22

is not just that they are beautiful

18:25

and not just that they are fairly

18:27

pristine, but that there is community support

18:29

for preserving them. In many parts of

18:31

the West, the designation of lands is

18:34

extremely controversial. Big fights break out between

18:36

local politicians and the federal government. But

18:38

in this case, the California state legislature

18:40

has voted unanimously in favor of designating

18:42

these three tracts of land. The Native

18:45

American tribes that have lived on these

18:47

lands for a long time, these are

18:49

the leading advocates for preserving these lands.

18:51

There are always some people who are

18:54

opposed, but in this case, there aren't

18:56

as many as you often find. These

18:58

are kind of easy ones. These are

19:00

the slam dunks. It is extremely difficult

19:03

to remove protections once they're imposed. The

19:05

way this law is written is it

19:07

says, you know, once we've made this

19:09

decision as a nation through our elected

19:11

leader, the decision sticks. It may be

19:14

the last chance for Biden to do

19:16

this, but it also may be the

19:18

last chance for any president. Congress passed

19:20

a law more than 100 years ago

19:23

that gives the president the power to

19:25

protect public lands, and president since then

19:27

have used it to create our national

19:29

park system and other forms of protected

19:32

land. Some Republicans want to get rid

19:34

of that law. They want to prevent

19:36

future presidents from protecting land on their

19:38

own authority. There would still be a

19:40

process for doing it, presumably, but it

19:43

would be much harder. I would probably

19:45

require a vote of Congress, and that's

19:47

something that doesn't happen very much these

19:49

days. So this power that Biden has

19:52

may not exist the next time we

19:54

have a president who is in

19:56

preserving public public land. So

19:58

an additional urgency

20:00

here for Biden to

20:03

to this authority while

20:05

it still exists. I

20:10

think that when one looks back on

20:12

our elected leaders and thinks about their

20:14

legacy, protecting lands is is often a very

20:16

powerful part of that legacy. It's something

20:18

that endures and is associated with our

20:21

leaders for long after they leave office. just

20:23

There just aren't very many instances of

20:25

people protecting land and us looking back on

20:27

it and being like, you know, you know,

20:29

boy, that was a mistake. In In general,

20:31

when we sort of muster the will

20:33

to protect portions of this country, we

20:35

end up feeling pretty good about it.

20:37

good about So I think this is just

20:39

a chance for President Biden and his

20:41

closing weeks in office to do something

20:43

that will have lasting value for the

20:45

nation. nation. To

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