Maddow: Supreme Court greenlights expansion of Trump's corruption machine
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How did Rachel Maddow introduce the day's big Supreme Court and corruption stories?
For me, being a part of this place has always been about the people, not about the politics.
From the field to the studio, Jacob is finding the heart of the story. Connect with Jacob Soboroff. Weekends at 10 a.m. Eastern on MSNOW.
Thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Really good to have you here as well. So in Star Wars... They blow up the Death Star, right? It's the good guys. It's the rebel alliance against the evil galactic empire. And against all odds, the good guys, the rebel alliance, succeeds in blowing up the empire's most terrifying weapon, this gigantic Death Star, this weapon they can use to, you know, blow up whole planets. So at the end of Star Wars, we're basically, you know, good guys won, empire zero. That's Star Wars. Then three years later, we get the next movie. We get The Empire Strikes Back. And as the name implies... The Empire is not taking it well that they got spanked in the first movie. They had their Death Star destroyed, and so now they are striking back at the Rebel Alliance.
The evil Galactic Empire is on the offensive, and they are coming for our heroes. The Empire Strikes Back is just as exciting as the first Star Wars movie, but it is darker. It is definitely darker. Right? Our heroes aren't, you know, just plucky underdogs like they were in the first movie. It really, really feels like they are losing. throughout much of the Empire Strikes Back. I mean, Empire Strikes Back is where we get, I am your father, right? The bad guy, Darth Vader, telling our hero, Luke Skywalker, that he's Luke's dad. Talk about unwelcome news, right? And he says that to him after he cuts off Luke's hand. I mean, it's dark. It's dark. The whole vibe of The Empire Strikes Back is this, you know, the dark dread of this tyrannical force having the upper hand seeming like it's winning.
And whether or not you've seen Star Wars ever— or whether, like me, you haven't seen any of the movies, like you haven't seen Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back since they came out when I was not yet 10 years old. I haven't seen them since. But still, I'm willing to bet that for you, like me, This sound from The Empire Strikes Back still takes you right back to it, still puts you right back in that fear and dread of the terrible, evil, galactic empire. John Williams' Imperial March from The Empire Strikes Back. It's iconic, instant American pop culture shorthand for you're looking at tyranny, right? You're looking at a despot flexing his power to intimidate innocent people. We viscerally know that's what you're looking at when you hear that sound.
But in that video that I just showed, the reason the visuals aren't from any of the Star Wars movies, the reason the visuals seem different is because this video, this TikTok was shot by a local guy who lives in Washington, D.C. And this is his recording of him playing the Imperial March from Empire Strikes Back out loud on his iPhone as Trump's deployment of the National Guard has armed troops in uniform patrolling his neighborhood. He did not get in the way of the National Guard patrol. He did not try to block what this National Guard patrol was doing. He just played that iconic song from the Empire Strikes Back on his phone as he walked around after them, conveying satirically and through music exactly what this National Guard deployment is.
When he did that, a National Guardsman summoned the D.C. police to arrest him for it. And they put him in handcuffs for having done that, for having played that song. But now, he just got paid. He has just received a $50,000 payment as a settlement for for the cops handcuffing him, essentially as punishment for him playing the song from The Empire Strikes Back. His lawsuit against the National Guard is still pending, so there may yet be more to come. Trump's National Guard patrols are still there as of today in D.C. In an interview with The Washington Post today, the guy who played the Imperial March as he walked behind the National Guard patrol, he notes to The Washington Post today that he does still go out and do this, only now he doesn't just do it with his iPhone.
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Chapters
4 chapters
1
How did Rachel Maddow introduce the day's big Supreme Court and corruption stories?
0:00–19:52
2
What happened when a DC resident played the Imperial March at a National Guard patrol?
19:52–34:06
3
How did the Supreme Court rule on E. Jean Carroll’s verdict and what does it mean for payments?
34:06–43:48
4
What has been the Trump administration’s pattern in trying to access state voter rolls and how have courts responded?
43:48–45:20
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Rachel Maddow Show
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