Scout’s Dishonor

Plus: Penn Station gets a not-so-MAGA makeover, Cuomo’s former critics are in his corner again & and a Haitian warlord welcomes the drone strikes.

After a massive over $7 billion settlement, the Boy Scouts of America is coming up drastically short in its payout fund for 82,000 sex abuse claims. The trustee warned that current funding may be far from enough to fully compensate victims, and the trust’s website states that 100% payouts are “almost certainly” off the table. Of course, there are tons of plaintiffs who oppose the plan and are pursuing BSA privately, which could ultimately turn the case into a Jarndyce v. Jarndyce scenario that could last years.

What does that look like per person? For 82,000 people, the $7 billion would provide each with $85,365. That figure shrinks fast once you subtract $250 million in attorney fees—and that’s if the plaintiffs even get paid in full. But this doesn’t mean that BSA is off the hook.

We saw a similar drama play out with the Sackler family during the opioid crisis. They also filed for bankruptcy to shield themselves from the financial fallout and contributed around $6 billion to settle suits and gain legal immunity, but there is no scenario where that wouldn’t trigger some legal scrutiny. In Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, SCOTUS ruled in a surprising 5-4 vote (with Kavanaugh, Roberts, Sotomayor, Kagan in the dissenting party) that bankruptcy does NOT allow non-consensual release of non-debtors from a judgment like this.

Welcome to the Gist List—a news roundup, interesting things you should know, and my thoughts leading up to today’s podcast episode.

Here’s what’s on my mind:

🚋 Penn Station: A lightning rod MAGA cause or just a train station?

🏭 The Nippon Steel goes through much to the union members’ delight.

🗳️ Old Cuomo critics change their minds.

🇭🇹 Haitian government uses drones to fight gangs.

💍 The biggest jewelry heist in U.S. history, but under the dumbest circumstances possible.

NOTE: Just so you know, we’ll be off tomorrow for Juneteenth. In the meantime, if you see any good stories you’d like to see us cover here, send them our way!

The Gist List

MAGA's Plan to Remake an Iconic New York Landmark (Politico Magazine)

A group of conservative intellectuals, architects, and donors, led by National Civic Art Society president Justin Shubow, is trying to remake New York’s Penn Station into a neoclassical masterpiece. While the piece makes this out to be some kind of MAGA cultural takeover, Shubow really strikes me as more of a William F. Buckley type—a dyed-in-the-wool-sports-coat-with-elbow-patches conservative, and Penn Station REALLY does need more than a facelift at this point. In such a case, why not appeal to the predilections of the president, who, at the end of his first term, signed an executive order promoting classical architecture?

There are a lot of ideas on how Penn Station should be redone. If left to the devices of Gov. Kathy Hochul, it would end up looking like a generic midwestern airport. On the other hand, the classics are classics for a reason, and we keep bringing back Greek Revival and Beaux-Arts styles, not because they are groundbreaking, but because people enjoy them.

And at the end of the day, which will benefit New Yorkers more: A “MAGA” neoclassical update for one of the busiest ports of transit in the country or the incessant dithering over the redesign of a station that reeks less of “temple to human ambition” and more of “urine”?

Nippon Steel's Purchase of U.S. Steel Closes, With Big Role for Trump (Reuters)

After 18 months of political hurdles and regulatory reviews, Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel is officially closed. Honestly, the holdup is confusing to me (and Donald Trump as well). This deal delay wasn’t about, as one might think, national security or foreign ownership, it was about the unions and how they felt about the deal. Biden, against all economic logic, blocked the deal. Ironically, many steelworkers, if not their unions, supported the deal, viewing Nippon Steel as more dependable and more likely to result in long-term job security—in fact, this is probably a part of the reason Trump won Pennsylvania.

Trump, true to form, issued a series of vague, contradictory statements before ultimately approving the deal, but only after Nippon Steel offered significant control in the process.

Former Critics Who Demanded Cuomo Resign Are Now Endorsing Him for New York Mayor (Politico)

Four years after resigning amid sexual harassment and COVID scandals, Andrew Cuomo is back in the saddle with the blessing of, surprisingly, a number of his former critics who, unsurprisingly, are being a little tight-lipped about their reasons for changing their minds. In reality, though, it is much easier to back Cuomo when his strongest challenger is Zohran Mamdani. Some of the motivation is no doubt a deference to his history of executive leadership, which, according to some of his backers, outweighs his past controversies.

Of course, some might be endorsing him out of admiration, others out of muscle memory, and more than a few to avoid becoming future targets. Some may just want to back a guy who isn’t going to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu or freeze the rents.

Overall, the very fact that former foes can be turned back into allies out of political considerations proves Cuomo’s overall theory of the case: Politics is transactional, and he understands the transactions.

Haiti Is Using Drones to Fight Gangs. Here's Why That's Likely to Be Illegal (NYT)

In an attempt to regain control of its capital, the Haitian government has turned to using drones donated by the Canadians to fight back against the gangs that have overrun the country. Now, as this oddly directed headline points out, that might not be too cool with international law, and Canada’s national police force has condemned the attacks. Legal experts agree the drone attacks are against international human rights law, which only allows lethal force in imminent threats—not broad offensives—unless the country is officially in an “armed conflict.”

That being said, I’m wondering how your average Haitian, who is under the constant threat of kidnapping, feels about these laws. Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier, a former police officer-turned gang leader and warlord who allegedly burns victims alive, is now boasting that he, too, can get drones and fight back. I’m sure rank-and-file Haitians, on the other hand, are taking a long, hard look at the situation and saying, “Don’t worry. We’ll work it out with the mounties and head over to the Hague once we scrape up enough money for a raft.”

The reality is that these laws surrounding war primarily benefit the side that isn’t willing to abide by them—and in this case, the primary beneficiary is a man named Barbecue.

$100M Jewelry Heist Was Biggest in U.S. History, Feds Say (San Francisco Standard)

On July 11, 2022, a Brinks truck carrying 73 bags of diamonds, gold, emeralds, rubies, and luxury watches pulled into a rest stop in southern California. While the driver was away, thieves stole 24 of them without confronting him or even using weapons.

But after reading this story, I take issue with the usage of the word “heist.” While the crime might sound impressive (and in a way it is, they still haven’t caught all the guys or recovered the mountains of jewelry), the circumstances around it are less so. They got into the Brinks truck, which had only a lock for security, and one guard was asleep while the other was getting food. This was also the same crew that stole $60,000 in stolen Apple AirTags in 2022. This is arguably a dumb thing to steal, even if only a few of them were turned on. It’s like hijacking a LoJack. Or heisting the Heist-Tracker 2000.

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Yesterday on The Show: Dead Parents, Paper Animals, and the Politics of Genius

Helen Lewis discusses The Genius Myth: A Curious History of a Dangerous Idea, her critique of how society defines—and distorts—the concept of genius. From Hans Eysenck’s wildly specific formula (preferably Jewish, born in February, lose a parent before age 10) to Picasso denying his granddaughter a paper animal because “this is the work of Picasso,” Lewis explores how mythmaking inflates flawed men into icons. Plus, negotiations aren't a goal. The goal is the goal, and negotiations are a way to get there (or not).

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Have a story you want us to talk about or an opinion you want to share? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com or share your thoughts in the comments. We might give you a shoutout in our next newsletter or on the air.