On this “The Weekly Show” podcast with Jon Stewart, his guest is journalist Michael Lewis, author of such books as The Big Short, Liar’s Poker, and Moneyball..  As the show rites, “As the Trump administration targets the federal workforce, we're joined by Michael Lewis, editor of and contributor to the New York Times bestselling collection "WHO IS GOVERNMENT?: The Untold Story of Public Service.” Together, they explore the vital yet uncelebrated work of civil servants, discuss why negative perceptions of them persist, and consider what we may lose amid DOGE’s chainsawing. Plus, learn what your relationship with your mother says about your relationship with government.
 
Here is the show’s "breakdown" of when specific topics are covered during the conversation, so you can jump to the sections that most interest you.  Those time codes are hyperlinked to the video on YouTube and will jump you automatically to the right spot.  But for those who watch it here, this is the schedule.
 
 
0:00 - Intro
5:00 - Michael Lewis Joins
5:40 - The Backstory of "WHO IS GOVERNMENT?"
27:30 - Michael's Story of Government Failure & Personal Heroism
35:52 - Why Do We Forgive Business But Not Government?
40:38 - Michael's Coal Miner Story
48:18 - How Do We Empower People in Public Service?
54:32 - Trump is a Trust-Destroying Machine
57:28 - The Government Sets Up an Adversarial Position to its Constituents
59:19 - We Should Have Learned More From Covid
1:11:19 - Breaking Down the Discussion

This is a fascinating, often-wonderful rarity.  It’s not for everyone, but quite an ethereal joy for those who do watch.  It comes from the Golden Age of TV, a broadcast on December 14, 1959, of the anthology series Play of the Week.  The 90-minute episode is “The World of Sholem Aleichem – an adaptation of two short stories by the author known as the “Jewish Mark Twain” whose Tevye stories served as the foundation of Fiddler on the Roof.  (Plus, there’s one very short tale by another author in between.)
 
But it’s the cast that takes this to another level – all the more notable with the connection to Fiddler.  That’s because it stars Zero Mostel, along with Nancy Walker, Gertrude Berg (hugely popular at the time for her Molly Goldberg TV show), Lee Grant, Sam Levene (who created the role of ‘Nathan Detroit’ in the musical Guys & Dolls, and starred in the original production of Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys), Jack Gilford,  Charlotte Rae (best known today as the housemother on the TV series The Facts of Life, but who starred as ‘Mammy Yokum’ in the musical Li’l Abner – though is most famous, at least in my family, for being a sorority sister at Northwestern with my Aunt Joan), and Morris Carnovsky (a rarely seen today, but renowned actor who was one of the founders of the Group Theatre, alongside such people as Clifford Odets, Elia Kazan, Lee J. Cobb, Will Geer, Sidney Lumet, Luther Adler, and Stella Adler).  And others.  (For those who know musicals well, also in the cast is Henry Lascoe who played ‘Mr. Schlegel,” the owner of the carnival in the musical, Carnival!)

​Some responses have finally begun to trickle out from the White House on the federal court ruling that Trump’s supposed “emergency” tariffs were illegal.  Of course, there was the ol’ standby yowl about “unelected judges” ™.   There was also Stephen Miller with his "outrage” at the ruling, as he wrote on social media that “We are living under a judicial tyranny.”
 
A couple of things.  And this is all really basic and easy.

Seriously.  It's really basic and easy.  And something that has gnawed at me for a very long time, far-transcending even the time of Trump.  ​Which is why it's all the more notable that it's...really basic and easy.
 
First, to people like Stephen Miller, the justice system in the United States, and the U.S. Constitution providing for checks-and-balances between the three branches of government is “tyranny.”  That’s why the people who call people like Stephen Miller – which includes Trump and his administration – “fascist”.  Because thinking justice ruling are “tyranny” and wanting to undermine the authority of the justice system is, like all efforts to undermine opposing centers of power and authority, one of the foundations of fascism.  Side note:  if one doesn’t like being called a fascist, then don’t act like a fascist.
 
And second, as for the White House using the ol’ MAGOP standby, dating back long before the MAGOP even to the traditional Republican Party, of being “outraged” at “unelected judges” ™, there is one very important thing to remember, that’s really basic and incredibly easy:
 
Attorney General Pam Bondi was not elected to her position.
 
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was not elected to his position.
 
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert Kennedy Jr. was not elected to his position.
 
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was not elected to his position.
 
FBI Director Kash Patel was not elected.
 
Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was not elected to her position. 
 
Senior trade counselor Peter Navarro was not elected.
 
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was not elected.
 
Border Czar Tom Homan was not elected.
 
Senior adviser Stephen Miller was not elected.
 
You get the point.  No need to name every cabinet member.  Or every Trump adviser.
 
And yes, I know the argument.  “Well, they all were nominated or appointed by the president of the United States!!!!”

And yes, they were.  The thing is -- so, too, were all the federal judges.  All were nominated by the U.S. President at the time of their appointment.  And furthermore, every federal judge went through the approval process to be confirmed by the U.S.  Senate.
 
But Trump advisers were not.
 
Tom Homan was not confirmed by the Senate.
 
Federal convict Peter Navarro was not confirmed by the Senate.
 
Former Fox host Jeanine Pirro was not confirmed as U.S. Attorney by the Senate.
 
Ed Martin, in charge of pardons for the DOJ, was not confirmed by the Senate.
 
You get the point.
 
Though there’s one more name (of a great many) to add –
 
Stephen Miller was not confirmed by the Senate.

"But...but," they sputter, "judges have more power."

If a top adviser to the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world, gives his or her advice and it's taken and made an Executive Order or put into action in any way...man, does that adviser have massive power.
 
And still, there something else important to add.
 
Most, if not all, state and local judges are elected.  State Supreme Court judges are elected.  In every election I have ever voted since I turned 18, judges have been on the ballot.
 
So, lest MAGOPs get the wrong idea, or want to give the public the wrong idea to undermine judicial authority, most judges in the U.S. are, in fact, elected.  And all federal judges are appointed by the President of United States – which is his check on the judiciary.  And all federal judge appointees must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate – which is their check on the judiciary.
 
And the U.S. justice system was created by the United States Constitution as part of the checks-and-balance system, which includes giving the unelected federal judges the power to check the Executive Branch – by determining under law if the actions of the president are legal.  Or not.
 
It’s pretty basic and easy.
 
I know that many on the extreme right hate this.  I know that people like Stephen Miller hate this.  I know that Trump hates this.
 
But that’s democracy under the United States Constitution.  It’s how democracy works.
 
It’s not tyranny.  It’s democracy.
 
The actions of Trump, Stephen Miller, the Trump administration, elected MAGOPs in Congress enabling and supporting Trump – trying to undermine the Constitution, taking actions to overthrow democracy in the U.S.? 
 
That’s tyranny.
 
It’s pretty basic and easy.
​

It's been much too long since we've out and about with Jiminy Glick, so let's make up for that oversight.  Here's Jiminy interviewing David Spade and...well, it's wonderful.  But I'm biased.  But correct.

Yesterday, the U.S. Court of International Trade struck down Trump’s tariffs, ruling that he didn’t have the legal authority in imposing them as supposedly “emergency” measures.
 
These were Trump’s hubristic and wildly misguided-named “Liberation Day” tariffs, which he placed on almost every country in the world, including some territories where there weren’t even any humans living there, just (in one case) penguins.  And the ruling against Trump wasn’t a close split-decision.  It was unanimous, 3-0.
  
The three-member court -- which included a Trump appointee, as well a judge appointed by Ronald Reagan -- was blunt.  “The Worldwide and Retaliatory Tariff Orders exceed any authority granted to the President by IEEPA to regulate importation by means of tariffs.”
 
The court also ordered that all tariffs that had been collected be “vacated.”
 
So far, Trump has not responded.  It’s my guess he will be displeased.  And blame the judges for his illegal act.  And whine and flail and threaten.  And be incomprehensible.  Which is getting worse by the day.
 
(For the record:  Yesterday, as well, a speech expert explained to the Daily Beast in specifics why Trump is showing signs of "mental decline."  The easy response to that is “Gee, no kidding...?”  But more to the point, given that many psychologists have long said he's showing signs of dementia -- and that the White House has taken off its website all Trump transcripts -- it's all of a part addressing the same dementia issues Trump has.)

By the way, oddly, this ruling may help Trump in a small way -- keeping prices from rising massively, thereby saving Trump from his own worst efforts.  But overall, it's a disaster for him, since tariffs-tariffs-tariffs are what he ran on and has long ranted out, and it's not only an embarrassment for him -- and he hates being embarrassed -- but I suspect he's now going to be going into whining mode for a long time, making him look even weaker and more pathetic.

Yes, we'll have to see what the Supreme Court ultimately does.  But the Constitution does seem incredibly clear on this.  Congress controls tariffs.  And the court ruling yesterday was blunt about that.

And for as blunt as the ruling was, what stood out to me was not so much that the federal court blocked the tariffs as being illegal (hugely significant tough that was), but that the court did what MAGOPs in Congress had refused to do, despite all experts saying imposing such tariffs under the emergency act requires committee consideration in the House within 15 calendar days after a resolution is introduced -- and then a full vote of the House must take place within three days after that.  And the House refused to act.
 
Actually, it’s worse than that.  It’s not just that the MAGOP-led House refused to act, but – you may recall (something the news media seems to have missed) that on May 14, I wrote here about how MAGOPs took to bizarre measure of altering reality to get around the “15 days” rules by declaring in a resolution on March 11 that the next 22 months to be "one day"!!
 
So, yes, yesterday morning, May 27, 2025, was still officially, according to the MAGOP House, March 11.
 
All because they were too afraid to use their Constitutional authority to follow the law and block the Trump “Liberation Day” (sic – or sick, take your choice) tariffs as illegal.  And ultimately, damaging to the U.S. economy and economic prestige in the world.
 
Which left it up to the federal court.  Unanimously.

To quote Bill Murray's character in Groundhog Day -- "You know what today is?  Today is...tomorrow."
 
Happy March 12. 

Liberation Day.  Actually.