Weekend thread: What's going on?

DeSantis under fire for brutal stunt that backfires. Virginia governor assaults rights of trans children. DOJ appeals ruling of Trump judge who halted stolen documents investgations.

Republicans believe that Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida has been able to shift the political discussion to immigration with his stunt in which he used migrants as props, flying them to Martha’s Vineyard under false pretenses. But the GOP is so locked in their cult that they don’t see how it’s playing out and potentially backfiring, and, rather than changing the subject, is keeping it on what Democrats have been focused on: GOP cruelty and brutality.

That cruelty was evident as well in the actions Friday night of Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia — who too much of the media told us was a “moderate.” Taking from the Trump-DeSantis playbook, he reversed education policy and will block schools from accommodating transgender students, a terrible rollback that will have a traumatizing effect on transgender young people in Virginia.

Both of these actions, by DeSantis and Youngkin, should be investigated by the Department of Justice, which has its hands full taking on authoritarianism. Last night it filed an appeal to the Trump stooge, Judge Aileen Cannon, and her ruling on a special master for the documents taken back by the DOJ from Mar-a-Lago. And the DOJ may have outsmarted the judge by only appealing part of the ruling, which could expedite review by the higher court.