None whatsoever, Anne-Louise! And I love what the historical societies have written to the six rogue justices.
“The statement focuses less on politics than on the perversion of history, noting that ‘[t]hese misrepresentations are now enshrined in a text that becomes authoritative for legal reference and citation in the future’ an undermining of the ‘imperative that historical evidence and argument be presented according to high standards of historical scholarship. The Court’s majority opinion…does not meet those standards.’”
Those six INjustices you reference have become intoxicated into the blinding fog of a stupor from inhaling their own self-aggrandizing ether which is beginning to suffocate us to death!
Read somewhere, but have not verified that "Justice" Thomas said liberals made him suffer and so he intends to make them suffer. Now he has some fellow travelers, so he can do that. This is what passes for jurisprudence on this court...pure revenge.
Yes, by Anita Hill. Biden was chair of the judicial committee and would not allow other testimony in support of Hill. Not his best moment. Thomas is such a hypocrite. It's OK to sexually harass your underlings, but not OK for women to have control of when they will bear a child. He also wants to come after contraception....why is beyond me....and same sex marriage. Of course, interracial marriage is not on the his list.
I think that’s an important distinction. However, other than overruling Roe, the result for the case before it would be the same. The push by the other conservative justices is to return as much power to the States as possible, undermine the Federal Government, support religious organizations and knock down the barriers between church and state, void gay marriage, outlaw homosexuality but hypocritically not void mixed marriages because of Thomas’ marital status. The contrast between the January 6 committee and the Supreme Court visually would destroy your eyesight.
Here is Leigh McGowan, Politics Girl. A few hours ago with her latest from her kitchen. She is another beacon of Light for me and for many. We will not be cowed by lying Republicans trying desperately to run out the clock getting to November elections. No. We. Will. Not. Here’s the link.
It’s pointless to try and engage right wing extremists like the SCOTUS six with historical facts. For the extreme right, truth is whatever advances their cause. They believe they have access to truths beyond mere evidence.
And because they grasp a truth that excuses countless lies, they feel entitled to do anything they see fit to anyone they want for any reason or no reason. And that makes them sworn enemies of democracy.
I agree. Underlying or driving their extremism, perhaps, is a type of religious zealotry that overrides everything, including decades of legal training and study. And as the groups of historians pointed out, even ignoring reams of historical evidence that they compiled for the justices
People like this see themselves on a divine mission, which means rationalizing the dictatorial tearing down of America. There's nothing more dangerous than someone who isn't just convinced they're right, but that their rightness has been bestowed upon them by their God.
Or to put it another way, this is playing God with the legal precedents established by Supreme Courts dating way back. And, it appears, they're just getting started.
An open letter to white evangelicals: We’re done with you.
By North Carolina Pastor John Pavlovitz
Dear White Evangelicals,
I need to tell you something: People have had it with you. They’re done. They want nothing to do with you any longer, and here’s why: They see your hypocrisy, your inconsistency, your incredibly selective mercy, and your thinly veiled supremacy.
For eight years they watched you relentlessly demonize a Black President; a man faithfully married for 26 years; a doting father and husband without a hint of moral scandal or the slightest whiff of infidelity. They watched you deny his personal faith convictions, argue his birthplace, and assail his character—all without cause or evidence.
They saw you brandish Scriptures to malign him and use the laziest of racial stereotypes in criticizing him. And through it all, White Evangelicals—you never once suggested that God placed him where he was, you never publicly offered prayers for him and his family, you never welcomed him to your Christian Universities, you never gave him the benefit of the doubt in any instance, you never spoke of offering him forgiveness or mercy, your evangelists never publicly thanked God for his leadership, your pastors never took to the pulpit to offer solidarity with him, you never made any effort to affirm his humanity or show the love of Jesus to him in any quantifiable measure.
You violently opposed him at every single turn—without offering a single ounce of the grace you claim as the heart of your faith tradition. You jettisoned Jesus as you dispensed damnation on him.
And yet you give carte blanche to a white Republican man so riddled with depravity, so littered with extramarital affairs, so unapologetically vile, with such a vast resume of moral filth—that the mind boggles.
And the change in you is unmistakable. It has been an astonishing conversion to behold: a being born again.
With him, you suddenly find religion. With him, you’re now willing to offer full absolution. With him, all is forgiven without repentance or admission. With him, you’re suddenly able to see some invisible, deeply buried heart. With him, sin has become unimportant, and compassion no longer a requirement. With him, you see only Providence.
And White Evangelicals, all those people who have had it with you—they see it all clearly. They recognize the toxic source of your inconsistency.
They see that pigmentation and party are your sole deities. They see that you aren’t interested in perpetuating the love of God or emulating the heart of Jesus. They see that you aren’t burdened to love the least, or to be agents of compassion, or to care for your Muslim, gay, African, female, or poor neighbors as yourself.
They see that all you’re really interested in doing is making a God in your own ivory image and demanding that the world bow down to it. They recognize this all about white, Republican Jesus—not dark-skinned Jesus of Nazareth.
And I know you don’t realize it, but you’re digging your own grave these days; the grave of your very faith tradition.
Your willingness to align yourself with cruelty is a costly marriage. Yes, you’ve gained a Supreme Court seat, a few months with the Presidency as a mouthpiece, and the cheap high of temporary power—but you’ve lost a whole lot more.
You’ve lost an audience with millions of wise, decent, good-hearted, faithful people with eyes to see this ugliness. You’ve lost any moral high ground or spiritual authority with a generation. You’ve lost any semblance of Christlikeness. You’ve lost the plot. And most of all you’ve lost your soul.
I know it’s likely you’ll dismiss these words. The fact that you’ve even made your bed with such malevolence, shows how far gone you are and how insulated you are from the reality in front of you. But I had to at least try to reach you. It’s what Jesus would do.
Thank you....I was Republican for too long.....but I was shocked that Trump was chosen to lead our country.....that was the "death blow" for me .....the end'''NO MORE!!!!
Unfortunately I have dear friends in the church who refuse to see reality in full view.
Your letter is well written, truthful and needed. I can only continue to pray that, "Truth Will Out"
I was also "Pro Life" without question but years later watching the reality of a young woman left alone basically after the first year her baby is born or in other very difficult situations.....really alone....struggling with emotional issues, financial difficulties....etc. I realized it must be the CHOICE of the woman who is carrying the boby.....she is really alone in so many ways.....it is difficult but the choice must belong to her. She should not be made to feel like a criminal by anyone.
Well said, Emily. It is hard to look at some of our beliefs and find that we are, if not wrong, then at least misguided. With respect to abortion, Roe/Dobbs, etc. it is ever more obvious that it is not about the babies but about control of women's bodies. I suspect there is a more sinister undercurrent in the drive to keep white people in a position of numerical superiority as well.
Your open-heart and quiet wisdom about this issue identifies where so many of us are. Yet, we are kept from putting this issue behind us. Or even putting it in an open, honest conversation. This issue is a supreme money machine for far too many controlling people. How do we thwart that manipulation? My heart aches because I do not know.
Pavlovitz is one of the good ones. I, too, am an atheist but I subscribe to his newsletter and you can read his posts on his website. This one came out a while ago; he , HCR, and Politics Girl posts are the things that keep me sane.
I think that there's probably more atheists since the trump nomination than we can imagine. I grew up catholic. The "brainwashing" never took hold. I escaped as soon as I was out from under parental control. I don't know what I am and at 72, I'm not worried about it. There's a lot of different way to believe in the afterlife, if there is one and I choose to be surprised! Did my Christian upbringing make me the person I am or was it good, loving parent that taught me right from wrong? Probably some of both.
I can concur. I am not exactly an atheist, but I do not subscribe to a god of some kind, more like a universal energy. In my daily life, since I love to garden, I am probably more like a pagan as I pay attention to the changes of the seasons among other things and rejoice in nature. My mother was religious and my father was not. I prefer the idea of spiritual. I also practice reiki which influences my outlook. I also confess that one of the most spiritual moments of my life was a mass said by the brother of a friend in one of the oldest Christian chapels in the catacombs of Rome. We were married in a concelebrated high nuptial mass by our Irish priest school principals in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by special permission of the bishop who was also Irish...since we were not Catholic. Two Catholic friends took communion on our behalf. The stipulation was that we had to have been baptized and we both had been.
H.H. Rose you have connected the dots between what utterly destroyed indigenous American culture and what is fanning the embers of destruction of todays American culture. The wide spread use of the most dangerous animal on the planet which has been noted as a “middle aged Christian white lady”, has shifted focus of its amoebic suffocation and has engulfed the Supreme Court enroute to engulfing the neural centers of American politics. Was it a good thing when we the people stood by and clapped as the indigenous population was euthanized? Was it a good thing as we watched the destruction of SCOTUS? Was it a good thing as we watched the destruction of the news media? We the people are finding it is our turn in the barrel now. How is that working for us?
Marx might have exaggerated when he said that religion is 'the opium of the people' but it certainly fills that function for too many Republican voters.
No exaggeration, IMO. My "awakening" was decades ago, and for many years I have at least tried to give the religious the benefit of the doubt in things political and moral. No longer. Fear of death and the void that it suggests, the desire for life to continue after death, and fear of things unknown, are the only reasons for religion. And too often bad people take that and use it for control and power - been that way as long as religion has existed. Progress and the advance of science are anathema to organized religion. They loosen the hold, question their dogma. Organized religion depends on the continued belief of the people in things not provable - to have "faith". An entity with so much power over people, that has as its primary tenet an insistence to believe in fairy tales, is a very very dangerous thing. And the more that entity denies facts as those facts continue to develop (excellent example is global warming), the more dangerous and unhinged that entity becomes. An increasingly unmoored evangelical Christianity fits in very well with Republican conservatism, which is rooted in racism, xenophobia, and oligarchism. It has gotten out of hand. If anything, Marx "under-exaggerated".
Thank You! Love Pastor John Pavlovich!! Exactly: "But I had to at least try to reach you. It's what Jesus would do." I posted this yesterday, specifically to reach my christotrumper friends and relatives. I fear none would read to that critical last line.
I sent this to a friend of mine who is a reborn Christian for many years. She was deeply offended by this letter and wrote to me about how this paints a huge paintbrush against ALL evangelicals. I saw her point and said he should have stated "White Supremacist" Evangelicals or those cloaked in religion. I apologized and respect her opinion. It also surprised me that she considered herself an evangelical as she is one of the most open-minded people I know about all paths, genders and sexual identities, spiritualities, and she NEVER tries to convert anyone. We are going to have more discussions on my, perhaps stereotypical impression of what an evangelical is based on people I know and what I have read and seen. I would never have put her into the group. So, I am about to explore this as i love her like a sister, very dearly. I also love her courage to speak out about this and how she feels hurt and that this will turn off people. I agree, one word might have changed the entire offensiveness she experienced.
Here’s a message for your white evangelical friend: 80% of white evangelicals voted for Trump and therefore cannot be described as decent human beings. For white Americans overall, “only” 60% voted for Trump. So, as many 40% of white Americans may be decent human beings while at most 20% of white evangelicals qualify for that designation. That is, white evangelicals are substantially worse people, on the average, than white Americans overall, who as a group are plenty damn bad enough. If white evangelicals were no worse, on the average, than white Americans overall, Trump and many Republican legislators would never have been elected. When we criticize white evangelicals, we do not paint them all with the same brush. We allow that as many as 20% of them may be decent human beings.
Rex as a white person of faith I must agree that this group of which I am a part, is most easily brainwashed and used by the Republican Party. I find myself sadly alone among lifetime friends. There is no reasoning. I pray their eyes will be opened.
Thank you, Rex, I think she is understanding that many of them give evangelicals a bad name and are just using it as a mask, whether they know it or not. Appreciate your input!
Too true. I suspect that the theory of “burn in hell” is to give injustice a final, deserved after-life that it managed to avoid on earth. It is a well-used metaphor for final justice unattainable in the “real” world!
Agreed on the hypocrisy! A quick note that some faiths that historically use “evangelical” (in its original etymological way) are very progressive-Evangelical Lutheran church where I serve lunch for unhoused and do a food distribution weekly (adjacent to Tompkins Square Park in NYC-a high need area) is highly progressive socially and very focused on justice.
Hypocrisy only matters to people who think their behavior and its effect on others defines them. These types will do a 180 and insist they never moved. They can square any circle you give them.
In my experience with the Southern Baptist Church, those most likely to use God as an excuse for their actions were also most likely to be seeking something other than those tenets laid out by Jesus on the Sermon in the Mount.
In other words, the cynical use of God to support the acquisition of power is not really religious zealotry. It is mostly just plain old power seeking, hding behind "God".
Those folks that I have met that were most kind, most likely to help others, and most gentle were ALSO most likely to rarely or never mention "God". Rather, you could see "God" working through them without their need to proclaim anything about their "faith".
My father was a quiet believer that never really said anything about his faith. He spoke with a thunders voice through actions - always helping people, always fixing things for people and always honest. He was an election precinct judge for many years as a republican but would be sick of the GOP today. He would never have voted for Trump.
I loved that man and still miss him after 22 years.
One of the reasons that my son recently made the difficult decision to break up with his girlfriend (a bright woman) was because she and her family leaned too far right on the political spectrum and it was not something he could reconcile as much as he tried. They are "mid 30-somethings", so ideology is a bit more set and less likely to change (particularly with family) - although mine did! Past decades of political discord were nothing compared to today's toxic criminal and dangerous political environment that has split friends, family, and relationships.
I think what has happened is that this "thing" has evolved beyond politics. Politics are the curtain that evil is hiding behind these daze. The extreme right have made the unthinkable not only possible, they encourage their minions to rebuke virtuous people for "judging" them for their evil thoughts. Things that good hearted American citizens used to be ashamed of even thinking have been brought to the fore and even made to seem to be "cool" ? I think it is good because now it's all out in the open - Good vs. Evil !
What I am told, frequently, when I engage with those folks whose outlook is completely opposite of mine is (and I paraphrase) "everything you think about us, we think about you." I do not know how to counter that. A sincerely held belief cannot be addressed with facts and honest dialogue.
You cannot pierce brainwashing easily. But I have a friend who has worked on three family members over 6 years and two have seen the light. It was with repetitive messaging to break their lying, angry hateful repetitive messaging from the repug cult. She did it with the utmost love. I do not bother with my older brother and his wife. He was violent and macho growing up and contributed nothing to my life but disrespect of women, pigmentation, and inappropriate jokes and screeds. Not one of the biggest losses of my life.
There are distinct, indisputable differences between the ever-more extreme right and us: we believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, and we don't use lies and violence to address our grievances. Granted, making this argument will get you nowhere.
Ha ! ha ! ha ! It's so juvenile. They have taken cues from Alex Jones, Kelly - alternative facts- Conway , et al. These are some very scared and desperate people.
Look, I don't like all Black people. I don't like all White people. I like rational , logical people of all tribes. These folks have been told that there is a conspiracy to wipe out White people - the great reset? If I believed that $#!t, I'd be scared too !
I’m not sure that I am coping Gailee. It’s the elephant in the room so to speak. We just avoid political and religious discussion when we are together. It’s so weird to have a family divided. It’s always been okay to have different ideologies and subsequent discussion and arguments. But it’s different now and I can only speak from my own experience .
I'm going to assume that your son in law is intelligent and successful. So when you bring up all kinds of facts that go against the lies, what is his answer? For instance , when "Evangelical Christians" are asked 'how can they back someone with such low moral behaviors' their reply is 'don't pay any attention to what he says; look at what he does.' ?
People who believe that their rightness was bestowed upon them by their god are dangerous, I'll grant you that. But I still think the most dangerous force in nature is the scared white man. There is a lot of overlap between these two groups.
Regarding historical evidence, wasn't one of the reasons given for overturning Roe that it didn't fit with the historical characteristics of the United States? I don't remember the exact language, but the point is that cohering with history was introduced by the Court as part of the justification for overturning Roe. Not sure which history they're referring to. Apparently neither were the historians.
Peter, Chief Justice Roberts molded the court to the right. With Trump's appointments, SCOTUS moves even further to the right..
'John Glover Roberts, a 25-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, arrived in Washington in early 1980. Harvard Law professor Morton Horwitz described Roberts as “a conservative looking for a conservative ideology in American history,” and he found that ideology in the nation’s capital, first as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and then as an influential aide in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department.'
'At the time, Rehnquist and the Reagan administration were at the vanguard of a new conservative counterrevolution in the law—a legal backlash against the historic and liberal-leaning civil rights laws of the 1960s. Just months before Roberts came to Washington, the Supreme Court had significantly limited the scope of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. As a young lawyer, Roberts eagerly took up the conservative cause, becoming a key foot soldier in the effort to preserve that decision and weaken the VRA.'
'It was a fight Roberts would continue decades later, when he replaced Rehnquist as chief justice and authored the majority opinion in a landmark case gutting the VRA in 2013. Fifty years after the passage of the landmark civil rights law, and 35 years after he first worked so hard to dismantle it, Roberts remains at the center of an impassioned debate about voting rights in America, one that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.' (PoliticoMagazine) Link below.
'The Pro-Money Court: How the Roberts Supreme Court Dismantled Campaign Finance Law' (BrennanCenterforJustice) Link below.
'Money Unlimited
How Chief Justice John Roberts orchestrated the Citizens United decision.' (NewYorker) See link below.
Thank you! The Citizens United decision is at the core of our problems. The fact that corporations can buy elections undermines the integrity of our democracy in ways that are limitless. But the big one, the most rotten, is the ability of the fossil fuel industry to fight efforts to combat Climate Change. And that is simply the assassination of a planet and it's inhabitants. Therefore, John Roberts is an accessory to murder. Mass murder.
The voters are at the core of our problem. The voters in Kentucky (my State) have kept McConnell in Office for decades while he molded the Courts as he wanted. The voters in the last election who reelected Graham, were fooled by Younkin, nominated Herschel Walker, ignored DeSantis, laughed at Boebert carry the blame for this Democracy crisis. Those Americans who minimize the danger and maximize their own comfort are the ones ultimately responsible for this mess. It has become fashionable to be unconcerned. Gas prices have become more important than the price of freedom. Civility has been silenced by crassness. Being told what to think by FOX or CNN is the easiest play. Knowing batting averages is more important than knowing someone's voting record. Finding the best vacation deal is more important than finding the best candidate. Strategic voting is ignored because my 'preferred Candidate makes me feel good and I'll ignore the fact that they will siphon voters away from the Party nominee' are the problem. Patriotism is passé. It has been replaced by the belief that the needs of the self outweigh the needs of the greater good.
In the cacophony of the trauma, degradation of society, invasion of technology and lack of a spiritual connection to anything the American voter has lost their collective minds and their way.
You are soooo correct. The selfishness of individuals over fellow Americans seems to be in high regard. We see it everywhere and it makes me sick. I always try to understand those who do not agree with me by having a rational conversation but it seems nearly impossible now. Either they choose not to discuss or start yelling at me. Every day life has become more of a challenge and I don't want to become another "ignorance is bliss" person. I do have to lay off the news from time to time in order to get my body back to working properly so I understand those who choose not to discuss. But they can't/shouldn't make it a way of life. Then they become part of the problem.
I was talking to just one of those people yesterday. He was tanned and refreshed and having a great Summer. When I brought up the January 6 Committee he said "Oh no one cares about that anymore." When I brought up the Supreme Court decisions (he is an attorney) he just shrugged. He voted for Biden and may or may not again. His whole attitude is exactly what I described. And there are tons of them.
Citizens made uncitizens, citizens displaced, silenced by the Heavy Metal blast of "Citizens United", replaced by corporations... by the monopoly Voice of the New Citizen Corporate, by Kremlin by Mammon by Mindless and by Rupert Moloch, by an infestation of their swarming lobbyists, by the Power-That-Comes-Out-From-The-Barrel-Of-A-Gun, by Shysters-Who-Think-For-And-Command-Us, by Anything Goes... by you name it...
But we are human beings, not meat on the hoof in a feedlot.
You see how people can be manipulated. Many millions of Americans believe that Trump won the presidential election, and many are captured by conspiracy theories that suit their biases. Today's Letter was about fact finding and sharing the truth with the American people. It is very difficult to get through to folks whose identities mesh with the lies.
But they reached the voters' minds, wallets and ballot. Voters are largely missing in fighting all the occurrences you mention. That is why these institutions thrive.
Bill, that latest decision has me thinking they've lost their souls to big oil. They obviously have chosen $$$ over their families, their friends, their fellow Americans and the rest of the world. I fear what's next.
Thank you, Fern, for this clear, as usual well-researched and documented, expose.
I, however, assumed that Justice Roberts was also a jurist...
I did not take him for another Justice Thomas, i.e. a millstone tied to the body of the Supreme Court... but so massively heavy and inert that no one could shift the object to the Atlantic to complete the job...
Readers should, however, try to gain access to a long and detailed article by Jill Abramson in today's FT Magazine entitled "In the ultimate coup for the right, it's Justice Thomas's Supreme Court now".
In her closing paragraph, Ms. Abramson notes that what I saw as a millstone is now far from inert. She cites the recent dissent in which he falsely asserted that Covid vaccines were developed using "aborted foetuses"...
*
Elsewhere, I note how, in a NYT op-ed piece, President Reagan's daughter Patti Davis, marked for life by the trauma of her father's attempted assassination by a man carrying a concealed weapon, drew what I see as the essential lessons from America's unending gun violence.
Americans appear by and large to have been so browbeaten, confused and bamboozled as to be quite incapable of drawing useful conclusions from events. Hence the great importance of calls to order like this one...
I cite a few basic points:
"There are people in America who want the rest of us to be afraid."
*
"Gun violence has turned America into a weakened country."
Peter, I just checked to learn what Jill Abramson's professional connection might be to the Supreme Court. I am smiling because she wrote children's book that is just coming out called 'What Is the Supreme Court? (What Was?)' Paperback – July 19, 2022.
The articles I provided were not what would be considered exposes. They were about Roberts; decisions and how they reflected his judicial temperament and political philosophy
Yes, Peter, she along with other journalists were incensed at the treatment of Anita Hill who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Many people were very angry about how she didn't have the slightest chance of making her case. She was disrespected and maligned. Biden headed the Judiciary Committee and did a very poor job in this instance.
Peter, I am in a rush now, however, I will soon send you a short list of the most highly respected legal experts and journalists who cover and or write about the Court. Justice Kavanaugh is considered the swing vote among the rightwing conservative justices, sometimes leaning in Roberts' direction. On the extreme, Alito has more influence than Thomas. I don't believe Jill Abramson ever covered the Court.
Unfortunately, I neglected to provide the link for the New Yorker article by Jeffrey Toobin, the well regarded chief legal analyst for CNN, was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1993 to 2020.
'.In one sense, the story of the Citizens United case goes back more than a hundred years. It begins in the Gilded Age, when the Supreme Court barred most attempts by the government to ameliorate the harsh effects of market forces. In that era, the Court said, for the first time, that corporations, like people, have constitutional rights. The Progressive Era, which followed, saw the development of activist government and the first major efforts to limit the impact of money in politics. Since then, the sides in the continuing battle have remained more or less the same: progressives (or liberals) vs. conservatives, Democrats vs. Republicans, regulators vs. libertarians. One side has favored government rules to limit the influence of the moneyed in political campaigns; the other has supported a freer market, allowing individuals and corporations to contribute as they see fit. Citizens United marked another round in this contest.'
Gailee, Roberts' moved the Court to the right. I suppled Peter will several links. He is not familiar with Roberts decisions. It will not be difficult for you to learn about
Roberts using Google. There are a good number of topnotch sources. PS Roberts; gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Christine, Roberts gutted the the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He's no fence sitter. Roberts' molded the court to the right. I've supplied Peter with several links.
When it comes down to it, Fern, he molded too far right and lost control. Watch him teeter back. Or try. His is a balancing act hanging on by a thread to a legacy he perhaps does not deserve.
In fact, Christine, while Roberts is quite conservative, five of the current Justices are to the right of him - Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett, and Kavanaugh; the last sometimes joins Roberts. They are in a hurry. I recommend that you read the links I provided Peter as a start.
It's useful to go on record with the truth, sure. It won't affect the SCOTUS six, one whit.
The Six are fanatics, which Churchill defined as "people who can't change their minds and won't change the subject." If they weren't, they wouldn't have passed muster with the Federalist Society. Heather makes this point repeatedly. So don't look for any evolution of thought on this bench. Again, paraphrasing Heather: that's exactly what they were recruited to prevent.
Internal contradictions only matter to people of good faith. For bad faith people, "War is peace, Slavery is Freedom, Ignorance is Strength." And they're just fine with that, because it suits their purposes.
Power skews, these are just a new generation of the greedy (power and money) bastards that Ronnie installed to upend our democracy. Except for Rupert, he is the bridge, brought in to dump a mountain of dirty tricks and lies on those eager to lap them up and pass them on.
The historians may have written to the Injustices; they did not write for them. They wrote for the rest of us, to correct the record, and strength the case for overturning the egregious actions of the INJustices.
Right wing extremist truth is rooted in belief in the false which is elevated to sacred value. It is religious in nature, and religious “belief“ is impervious to reason. The only thing that will pry it loose is another belief. Their community of “knowledge“ will not allow that to happen. Factual evidence will have no effect. Their leaders must be indicted and convicted. All the way to the top of course.
There is one hell of a problem with blind faith in America -- typically blind faith in tenets that the believer hasn't even begun to understand but has been well conditioned to sign up to and take for granted; typically, blind faith in two or more totally incompatible beliefs (such as God and Mammon), all of which makes for a double-bind and further undermines the believer's sanity... Hence mass psychoses. Either those or lip-service to the one, enslavement to the other...
Blind faith in and worship of the Constitution -- reduced to fetish -- does nothing for the upholding of said Constitution but plays into the hands of those bent on subverting and replacing it... Another object of this idiot's form of religious faith is Holy $... And/Or... Our Great Leader, President DT...
All of this is tied up with rooted dualism -- shared by believers and unbelievers alike, even the amoral who couldn't give a damn about "good and evil" -- this, and the sense of separation and alienation that it inculcates.
Erich Fromm wrote some excellent passages on faith, both rational and irrational, which I can strongly recommend: https://fromm-online.org/en/glaube/
"While irrational faith is rooted in submission to a power which is felt to be overwhelming strong, omniscient and omnipotent, and in the abdication of one’s own power and strength, rational faith is based upon the opposite experience… We have faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind because, and only to the degree which, we have experienced the growth of our own potentialities, the reality of growth in ourselves, the strength of our own power of reason and of love. The basis of rational faith is productiveness… It follows that the belief in power (in the sense of domination) and the use of power are the reverse of faith. To believe in power that exists is identical with disbelief in the growth of potentialities which are as yet unrealized. It is a prediction of the future based solely on the manifest present; but it turns out to be a grave miscalculation, profoundly irrational in its oversight of the human potentialities and human growth. There is no rational faith in power. There is submission to it or, on the part of those who have it, the wish to keep it. While to many power seems to be the most real of all things, the history of man has proved it to be the most unstable of all human achievements. Because of the fact that faith and power are mutually exclusive, all religions and political systems which originally are built on rational faith become corrupt and eventually lose what strength they have, if they rely on power or ally themselves with it.
To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whosoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern – and to take the jump and stake everything on these values."
I myself happen to be religious, despite having had a skeptical outlook since childhood, but this outlook is grounded in questioning, in searching and in life's experience. It has involved a lifelong stripping away of beliefs, most of which turn out to have been parasitic attachments, often arising out of bad habits -- a problem of mental hygiene... I find that many atheist friends are attached to the ideas they worked out for themselves, products of intellect rather than direct insight... Excellent crutches.
Anyway, enough of that. What we all need, yet so many fear and flee, is to strive to find and establish ourselves in the true freedom that we intrinsically are.
I hope readers don't mind me sharing this view (which is not easy to express because it is so unfamiliar to most of us heavily conditioned Westerners) but our culture has, over a long period of time, become so skewed out of kilter by all that is extrinsic and irrelevant and is moving faster and faster away from what we are towards what we decidedly are not that I feel bound to try to say these things. Thanks for your patience and pardon me if I've said it all badly!
But I'd be the first to confirm that letting go of familiar mental constructs and guardrails can be scary and may call for help from people who've overcome such dependency...
Thank you for this! “Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whosoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner.”
Peter, I appreciated your explanation of states in which people are bound and of faith in the words of Erich Fromm, to quote ‘… faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind, and only to the degree which, we have experienced the growth of our own potentialities, the reality of growth in ourselves, the strength of our own power of reason and of love. The basis of rational faith is productiveness…’ I share that understanding of faith, Peter, and happy to take it out of the pigeonhole I had put it in. Once faith moved beyond a person I trusted and with whom there was understanding, faith became associated with religion, a construct, a system that I was not comfortable with.
Existence is a combination of experiences and emotions, learning, communicating, and creating. It is movement, change, interchange, responsibility and discovery. What you mean by faith, I call being alive. It is the wonder of life, both difficult and abundant and brimming for many of us with relationships. Ah, there’s the rub, and the excitement, the differences, the playfulness and the adventures, the teaching, the listening and the warmth, the loneliness, the caring and the love.
I think they occupy a contrived reality and are intent on making it our reality. Grifting and scamming? Seems they were groomed to launch what some writer called a polite coup. Did the grooming include financial inducements? That's plausible but I doubt we'll ever know.
Hi Michael! Have to get Sheldon Whitehouse on it. His presentation on the dark money steering the Court at Amy Conan Barrett's confirmation hearing was superb. He challenged her to change it once she was on the court-- but at least to be aware of what was happening. It is his mission. Maybe we WILL find out about any financial inducements... particularly around Kavanaugh's disappeared gambling debt.
"...That's plausible but I doubt we'll ever know..."
"We" have known about the absolute power of the bigoted white Elite's enormous discretionary wealth commanding the development and continuing support of such "contrived reality" for a long time thanks to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's various detailed Congressional revelations.
What I mean is whether we'll ever know specifically if money or other financial benefits went directly to the three Trump appointees. And the financial value.
May I suggest that people who are captivated by that which even a ten year old knows is surely illegal would only pursue such high risk grab at what they have been deceived into believing is an obtainable enhancement of an otherwise impossible, (for them), level of power status will only be motivated by "easy money".
Thank you, Heather, for making sense of the labyrinthine machinations of the events of Jan 6. You really help me separate “fact from fiction”. And keep sending those gorgeous photographs.
Today’s letter trusts our efforts at fact finding, learning the truth and sharing it with the American people against the flood of mendacity, trickery, conspiracies, manipulation and propaganda that is drowning our democracy.
Can we get out from under it?
- ‘Thanks to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, we are learning more about just how deep that plot ran, and more evidence is dropping almost daily.’
- ‘Trump’s White House counsel Pat A. Cipollone to testify in a videotaped, transcribed interview.’
- ‘There is movement on other issues surrounding the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as well. Yesterday, a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury issued a subpoena for Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), among others…’
- ‘There are more subpoenas in the news. Today, New York state judge Arthur F. Engoron held Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm that valued the Trump properties under investigation by New York attorney general Letitia James, in contempt of court for failing to comply with subpoenas about the valuation of certain Trump properties.’
- ‘The slow accumulation of facts over fiction might well become a financial crisis for those who participated in Trump’s narrative. The Fox News Corporation, One America News Network, and Newsmax are currently facing multibillion dollar lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, a voting machine company and an election software company, that those channels claimed had stolen the 2020 election for Biden.’
- ‘Angelo Carusone, chief executive officer of Media Matters for America, told Gabbatt: “I think once you start to pull the discovery material, what you’re going to find is there was a lot of communication between the Trump people both internally and externally about pushing very specific lies and narratives.”
- ‘Both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association, the flagship organizations of professional historians in the U.S., along with eight other U.S. historical associations (so far), yesterday issued a joint statement expressing dismay that the six Supreme Court justices in the majority in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade ignored the actual history those organizations provided the court and instead “adopted a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than thirty years.”
‘What all these demands for information under oath do is establish what really happened, in contrast to the false narratives political operatives have spun in front of television cameras and on the internet, where they are not bound by any requirement to tell the truth.’ (Letter)
Our government is making monumental efforts to shine the light on the truth. We have a great deal to be proud of here, and we are part of the American army of truthtellers. We are marching on!
You may have exceeded your daily allotment of authorized News Letter space!
Your discussion's burgeoning length reminds me of the time Amadeus was commanded by the King to, "...just remove a few notes..." from the magnificent opera Amadeus performed for this simpleton majesty.
“Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine”― Sun Tzu. SCOTUS being called out by historical associations I think important in that it is object facts contracted by experts yet relied upon by 6 Justices so it takes the debate out of the context of 'we SCOTUS are the experts on law' and puts where it belongs, 'we 6 Justices are disingenuous partisan hacks'.
Sun Tzu was a great thinker. Now, unfortunately, it is heavy artillery and the tracks of tanks that grind finer. And the Autocrat who alone has the right to think about, speak about and direct the thoughts, speech and actions of his subjects... never knew how to think responsibly in the first place, being quite incapable of even the most minimal empathy. Like his American disciple.
Americans can still exercise choice this year... even meaningful choice if they can get around too very basic thinking... Next year? The year after?
It may be that too many Americans simply don't care. Are not interested in anything other than video games and weekends. The fall will be much faster than that of Rome.
I like what you have said not one bit -- who could?
Yet there's every reason to fear the insight.
Fearful is the combination with Russia's implosion and the limitless ambitions of an inhuman Chinese despot, while all attention is turned away from the overarching danger, the climate.
Imagine, even as a lark, if Fox News and its wannabe dispensers of 1984-esque truth were brought to their knees by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic lawsuits.
This would be TRUE justice. I wonder if the fact that millions of Americans are hoping for and imagining this result right now will move the needle. I am not a "spiritual" guy, so my logic driven brain doesn't really believe in such creative visualization. But it can't hurt to try.
So...all together now...LET US FOCUS. Picture FNC busted!
Bill, just my take, but I have always thought of the ability to creatively imagine to be a higher intellectual faculty. So, no conflict with your logical dimension, which is also a faculty of intelligence! So let us happily and with gusto picture a busted FNC!!!!!
My wife and I use "creative visualization" as personal tools to guide our lives. We set a goal, picture it, refer to it frequently and then make the decisions necessary to actualize the goal. It works!
I like the idea. Saving it for my next sleepless night. I have some great dreams, with complex dialogue and well-defined characters, and I can even remember them when I wake up.
In response to Scott MacFarlane’s tweet, Stephanie Peace wrote, I got news for Lindsey Graham. Fani Willis [the Fulton County District Attorney] is in it for the long haul! She’s not deterred by his antics, she’s methodical, tenacious & very seasoned. She won’t get the vapors, she’ll get the testimony. He ought to save his money & comply. Fani can play the long game too 😉
No surprise Dr. Richardson, but you’ve done it once again.
Your usual stellar critique of today’s pertinent political news. Your skills and gift for lighting up the profound darkness that exists in our politics never ceases to amaze, and provide great relief. Your revelations soothe greater than any known narcotic!
So it appears we have a huge conspiracy to overthrow the entire US government, involving the current majority of the Court, key members of the Senate, a portion of the House, the former President and much of his top staff, and several large media outlets, including the Fox Network.
This should be a surprise to no one, except maybe the idiotic Foxers; may the powers that be finally be the powers that should be. We’ve had enough of pretenders, imposters, and destroyers wearing government garb, going back to Ronnie
🔥They say…. “A fire cleanses. Its smoke drifts up into the atmosphere while the ashes remain. And from those ashes new things may grow.” Funny, I thought I saw Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger stirring up some ashes after roasting some Congressional marshmallows.
AND, our Democracy has been on superfire for multiple decades. We fully witness, daily, the areas that must be brought up and into the 21st Century, and the areas that need annealing, strengthening not just for a chosen few, but for All of Us.
Anneal: heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it.
BIOCHEMISTRY: recombine (DNA) in the double-stranded form following separation by heat.
Enough of our Democracy's systems and our people have been under the heat, the annealing process-- and, like the Phoenix, we will rise above these ashes with a much stronger, fairer democracy for All the People, this time.
Get your marshmallows (and chocolate) and feel our new multi-colored wings spreading far and wide across this land, Heathers flock!
The Keep Dumpster in Power conspiracy may be on fire, but burning that whole thing to ashes will be gratifying but not sufficient. I now agree with the radical but necessary solution to rescue our democracy mentioned in yesterday’s comments. Many thanks, Gail!
The nation and Republicans must undergo a transformation. That may result in impeachment of the Supreme Court Justices that lied to reach the bench. We know who they are. They must go.
The transformation by one man stands out.
One man spoke the truth after lying for TFG - President Donald John Trump - but he was not able to publish Trump’s transcripts. Those documents are hidden at three schools for a reason. They must be published.
The man that has undergone a transformation is honest, today.
He won’t take your call. He will read your txt or email.
Cohen has a blockbuster podcast series going, called “mea culpa”. Excellent guest interviews. Be tolerant of his heavy New York accent and “potty mouth” - the podcast is energetic and energizing.
Abbie McMillen - guidance, please! Mea Culpa? Michael Cohen’s voice, his NYC accents, all co-mingled? Sinecure City. Something for the Jews, the taxi drivers from Bangladesh, the Ecuadorian’s lost at the border, former mothers of children lost dressed as men? Seriously, how do I get his podcast? How? Sandy
He’s a good father, a good husband. He was weak and fell as others have. The orange bulky bully DJ Trump, spinning fascist rays of death - captured Michael’s boyish imagination and seduced him. He fell. Slammed, Michael rose. He did not hide. He used his daughter’s and his family’s devotion and support, and he talked the talk - and testified.
Thank you Professor Richardson! You put it together! “The role of fact versus narrative is on display elsewhere in our government as well“ Isn’t it interesting that technology has played a role in the criminals’ attempts to hide the facts and bury the truth! And now that technology is still alive; data that is available long after facts reveal truth and lies TFG and his minions buried. “With extraordinary access to the family, Holder witnessed what the trailer portrays as the attempt of the Trump family to create an American dynasty, and its determination to hold onto power even if it meant the destruction of American democracy. “ How stupid and narcissistic can anyone be to invite a filmmaker into the house? The ultimate in Reality TV for he who loves to be the star. And then phone calls recorded for posterity. We heard them all the way from Georgia. And lawsuits by voting machine companies to recover their reputations. Each day, although late, the collaborators are waking up to the facts, from recorded phone conversations and texts and blatant misdeeds, extortion revealed, guilty and remorseful and in fear, they are getting the picture: there’s no place left to run. Now we hope for results: the criminals, including those at the very top, and all supporting the crimes, are prosecuted and pay the price. And we rid this country of elected officials who swear allegiance to power and not to the Constitution and their country. Justice.
It does not seem logical nor correct to call them mere ‘rioters’. Doing so minimizes the existential threat to democracy. Yes, a riot took place, but the word is not adequate to describe Jan 6th. They are seditious perpetrators of political violence, a premeditated conspiracy with intent and behavior to destroy property, breaking and entering, violent intimidation, threaten, injure, and commit murder, in order to prevent the peaceful transfer of power outside of and inside a government building. Is ‘coupist’ a word? Would it be more correct to call them what they are in deeds and fact?
A riot is something different. A riot is an out of control mob, hell bent on mayhem, violence, destruction, sometimes for no reason, and other times as a social response, triggered by an unacceptable and grievous event, a response to something so outrageous it causes a violent reaction by many in the streets or inside a large gathering place.
Jan 6th was more than a riot. It was a violent coup based on a lie, a lie so big, coup participants could not tell the difference between reality and fiction. Believing the lie so intensely they would destroy property, disobey Police orders, break in and enter, injure, maim, assault police, and commit murder upon the innocent, with a goal of disrupting the peaceful transfer of power.
Why give willing participants in a coup another frame to deny, downplay, and dismiss the reality of their pre planing and violent assault on the Capital Police, our elected representatives, and within the halls of democracy?
Thank you for this delineation of terms. I have been sparring with a few RWNJ friends (those that still talk to me, anyway) over the difference between the protests that have turned violent following the police killings of Black men (in particular) and the seditious insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The particular fellow I was engaging with (also a retired cop, from a municipal department in the county I was employed by) referred to the "burning of cities nation wide" and comparing that to "one small riot at the Capitol." That is how they think. I can now utilize some other language that boils around in my head with some specific intent.
Asha Rangappa was interviewed by MSNBC's Chris Hayes this evening, about the strategy of possible Federal prosecution of tfg under18 U.S. Code Section 2383. Section 2383 is readily understandable to anyone who saw the Jan 6th attack on TV or is reliving that attack now in granular detail. Ms. Rangappa is a former Associate Dean at the Yale School of Law, a former FBI Agent.& current Senior Lecturer at Yale's Jackson Institute. Section 2383 spells out that "whoever incites, sets foot on, assists OR engages in any rebellion OR insurrection against the authority of the United States OR the laws thereof OR gives aid & comfort thereto shall be fined ... imprisoned not more than 10 years & SHALL BE INCAPABLE OF HOLDING ANY OFFICE UNDER THE UNITED STATES i.e. disqualified to run for President. I would advise further that it would be easy to write that Verdict Form. There are some Georgia Peach state options as well.
Heather, good morning from India. There is a lot to unpack in your, as usual, brilliant assessment of what’s going on in our country. It is dizzying just to see the number of subpoenas and to whom they are being issued! “Justice” moves slowly as we know, so we await the results of these efforts to bring those behind the overthrow of our government to real justice. Thank you!
Probably because all the participants are back stabbers who are consumed by extraordinarily insatiable greed for power & money...kinda like all the trumpets, Eh!?
Wow wow wow! You continually surpass the idea of “news” with your deep understanding of history that you graciously share with us all. That last bit on the Roe decision is a spotlight to the recent dark decisions of the Supreme Court. Hopefully the Republican Party will be so decimated by this,(politically) they will join Democrats in Congress to right this horrible decision by passing federal laws that overrule Dobbs. Looks like De Santis is already squirming.
I’ve been waiting for someone to bring up his name.
He is squirming badly. His “open state, c’mon down, no COVid protocols here, no state taxes, we are white and free”…… well, a segment of the “tourist industry” will depend on FL as being THE southern state to come to get an abortion. So he currently totters on the fence waiting for a court to save face for him. He can’t figure out how to keep the “base” and the suburban “clientele” and his young vote in his election basket all at the same time. Political inexperience always comes back to bite someone elected too soon or touted too early right on the kiester. The can of whoop ass awaits Desantis.
Latest poll from FiveThirtyEight shows Crist ahead of Desantis.
“Polling on fivethirtyeight.com shows Florida scientist and COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones leading Matt Gaetz by 6 points in the general election.”
I still like Nikki Fried over Crist. She seems to me better equipped as a counter to Desantis, to Authoritarianism, to fascism. Fried represents what we need most, a moral leader for the times.
Looks like Crist will be choice. Was not my first choice either but my idea from beginning still stands. I’d like to see a Crist-Fried Gov-Lt Gov ticket. Marshall all forces possible to one effort. Knock DeSantis off his fake Republican preening pedestal. He has proven his inexperience and his malicious intent against “We the People, all of us this time”.
I like Fried too, maybe , as Christine says , on the ticket with Crist. I sadly do not think she is strong enough to carry the top of the ticket right now.
Christine, that can of whoop ass cannot come soon enough. The "anti- mandate mandator" -- running for President on all Floridians' backs!!! I am not ecstatic about Charlie but in this case glad that he is there and taking the lead. Wish Gwen Graham had won. She could have bested DeSantis. Think of what a different world we would have had here in Florida-- already the maligned and malignable State of the Union.
Thank you to the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association for stepping up to the US Supreme Court. History must be recorded and used properly in accordance with the facts.
I have read several good books on the Civil War, as well as many other good history books by renowned authors, including Heather's books.
However, the most important history book to me is "Race and Reunion". Its important because it addresses how over time the former Confederates rewrote history until much of the US bought into this romantic fiction that they had been valiant, courageous, caring of their slaves, giving them homes, health and civilization, that blacks were inferior and needed close supervision and support from the superior white masters which the slaves returned with loving, loyalty, and justifiably hard work, and that the South was victimized by the industrial, communist North who destroyed the South's gentile civilized culture and life. Of course this fiction is against a backdrop of buying, selling and separating husbands, wives, babies and children, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles many many times throughout a slave's lifetime. Ten, twenty, thirty years and to this day after emancipation, black Americans have searched for their closest relatives. While the South created this new romantic American memory, they were disenfranchising blacks, terrorizing them, lynching them, segregating them, withholding resources from them, all while using them in their censuses, taking their money in taxes and fees, charging them high usury amounts, and destroying any accumulation of wealth and progress. This constant racial abuse both in the South and in the North was concealed, minimalized or justified by the false history created by the South over more than 50 years. We are still living with the damage today that the Confederates created before and after the Civil War. Their examples and patterns live on.
This is what the US Supreme Court is doing in it's current rulings and abuse of history. This what the Big Lie is all about. This is what the Republican Party is today. Attempting to create an American memory disconnected from American and World history, science, medicine, arts and culture. Indoctrination in place of education. This is why the January 6th House Committee investigation is so important. This is why Heather's letters are so important. This is why we must all be ministers of historical accuracy and facts against narratives of political propaganda and indoctrination.
Thank you Heather. I really don’t know how you do it but so thankful that you do. You’re a light in the darkness.
No shortage of historical scholarship here.
None whatsoever, Anne-Louise! And I love what the historical societies have written to the six rogue justices.
“The statement focuses less on politics than on the perversion of history, noting that ‘[t]hese misrepresentations are now enshrined in a text that becomes authoritative for legal reference and citation in the future’ an undermining of the ‘imperative that historical evidence and argument be presented according to high standards of historical scholarship. The Court’s majority opinion…does not meet those standards.’”
Rowshan
Those six INjustices you reference have become intoxicated into the blinding fog of a stupor from inhaling their own self-aggrandizing ether which is beginning to suffocate us to death!
Injustices! Perfect. The Cabal of Six
Read somewhere, but have not verified that "Justice" Thomas said liberals made him suffer and so he intends to make them suffer. Now he has some fellow travelers, so he can do that. This is what passes for jurisprudence on this court...pure revenge.
I have read that, too.
Isn’t Thomas the one who was accused of sexual misconduct?
Yes, by Anita Hill. Biden was chair of the judicial committee and would not allow other testimony in support of Hill. Not his best moment. Thomas is such a hypocrite. It's OK to sexually harass your underlings, but not OK for women to have control of when they will bear a child. He also wants to come after contraception....why is beyond me....and same sex marriage. Of course, interracial marriage is not on the his list.
Clarence Thomas's statement about making liberals suffer:
https://www.nytimes.com/1993/11/27/us/2-years-after-his-bruising-hearing-justice-thomas-can-rarely-be-heard.html
Have a nice day!
Shameful if me. I just had an image of the GQP justices sitting in a sealed room surrounded by the stench of intestinal gases.
AHA!
Those gasses would be from the rotting carcasses of all the defeated repuglicans supporting the great orange disgrace of human existence...
😂😂😂😂
OK, that made me snort coffee out my nose. Thank you.
They are certainly fetid.
You mean smelling their own farts? Oh dear! I’m bad too.
The flatulence of all the others + their facial expressions and the burgeoning fear in their eyes.
Perfectly stated, George!
Well said
Well stated George.
Rowshan Tastefully understated. Might you add Stench Court and Justice Ginni/Clarence Thomas?
The Supreme(?) Court majority: “Facts? Facts? We don’ need no stinkin’ facts!”
Like the court’s majority, the Republican Party is engaged not just in a war on democracy, but in a war on truth itself.
I think of them as the Supreme Clerics
"Rowshan Nemazee -- And I love what the historical societies have written to the six rogue justices."
https://www.oah.org/insights/posts/2022/july/joint-oah-aha-statement-on-the-dobbs-v-jackson-decision/#:~:text=Joint%20OAH-AHA%20Statement%20on%20the%20Dobbs%20v.%20Jackson,presenting%20the%20relevant%20history%20to%20the%20Dobbs%20v.
Thanks for posting this. I've broadcast it to my nearly 100 email list.
Thanks for the link, Ron.
Great link! Thank you!
Five rogue justices were the majority opinion in overturning Roe v Wade; Roberts was not one of them.
Roberts’ revels in the dirty work done by the other 5 right wing zealots!
Quite obvious that he is Chief Justice in title only!
The vote was 6-3. Am I missing something?
I think that’s an important distinction. However, other than overruling Roe, the result for the case before it would be the same. The push by the other conservative justices is to return as much power to the States as possible, undermine the Federal Government, support religious organizations and knock down the barriers between church and state, void gay marriage, outlaw homosexuality but hypocritically not void mixed marriages because of Thomas’ marital status. The contrast between the January 6 committee and the Supreme Court visually would destroy your eyesight.
I realize all that. I just felt it was important to be accurate when speaking of who overturned Roe.
I also wish to thank those who post comments here with even more information and news.
Here is Leigh McGowan, Politics Girl. A few hours ago with her latest from her kitchen. She is another beacon of Light for me and for many. We will not be cowed by lying Republicans trying desperately to run out the clock getting to November elections. No. We. Will. Not. Here’s the link.
https://youtu.be/tbrXHzlFmu0
Salud, Jan and all. 🗽
She's really good.
It’s pointless to try and engage right wing extremists like the SCOTUS six with historical facts. For the extreme right, truth is whatever advances their cause. They believe they have access to truths beyond mere evidence.
And because they grasp a truth that excuses countless lies, they feel entitled to do anything they see fit to anyone they want for any reason or no reason. And that makes them sworn enemies of democracy.
I agree. Underlying or driving their extremism, perhaps, is a type of religious zealotry that overrides everything, including decades of legal training and study. And as the groups of historians pointed out, even ignoring reams of historical evidence that they compiled for the justices
People like this see themselves on a divine mission, which means rationalizing the dictatorial tearing down of America. There's nothing more dangerous than someone who isn't just convinced they're right, but that their rightness has been bestowed upon them by their God.
Or to put it another way, this is playing God with the legal precedents established by Supreme Courts dating way back. And, it appears, they're just getting started.
An open letter to white evangelicals: We’re done with you.
By North Carolina Pastor John Pavlovitz
Dear White Evangelicals,
I need to tell you something: People have had it with you. They’re done. They want nothing to do with you any longer, and here’s why: They see your hypocrisy, your inconsistency, your incredibly selective mercy, and your thinly veiled supremacy.
For eight years they watched you relentlessly demonize a Black President; a man faithfully married for 26 years; a doting father and husband without a hint of moral scandal or the slightest whiff of infidelity. They watched you deny his personal faith convictions, argue his birthplace, and assail his character—all without cause or evidence.
They saw you brandish Scriptures to malign him and use the laziest of racial stereotypes in criticizing him. And through it all, White Evangelicals—you never once suggested that God placed him where he was, you never publicly offered prayers for him and his family, you never welcomed him to your Christian Universities, you never gave him the benefit of the doubt in any instance, you never spoke of offering him forgiveness or mercy, your evangelists never publicly thanked God for his leadership, your pastors never took to the pulpit to offer solidarity with him, you never made any effort to affirm his humanity or show the love of Jesus to him in any quantifiable measure.
You violently opposed him at every single turn—without offering a single ounce of the grace you claim as the heart of your faith tradition. You jettisoned Jesus as you dispensed damnation on him.
And yet you give carte blanche to a white Republican man so riddled with depravity, so littered with extramarital affairs, so unapologetically vile, with such a vast resume of moral filth—that the mind boggles.
And the change in you is unmistakable. It has been an astonishing conversion to behold: a being born again.
With him, you suddenly find religion. With him, you’re now willing to offer full absolution. With him, all is forgiven without repentance or admission. With him, you’re suddenly able to see some invisible, deeply buried heart. With him, sin has become unimportant, and compassion no longer a requirement. With him, you see only Providence.
And White Evangelicals, all those people who have had it with you—they see it all clearly. They recognize the toxic source of your inconsistency.
They see that pigmentation and party are your sole deities. They see that you aren’t interested in perpetuating the love of God or emulating the heart of Jesus. They see that you aren’t burdened to love the least, or to be agents of compassion, or to care for your Muslim, gay, African, female, or poor neighbors as yourself.
They see that all you’re really interested in doing is making a God in your own ivory image and demanding that the world bow down to it. They recognize this all about white, Republican Jesus—not dark-skinned Jesus of Nazareth.
And I know you don’t realize it, but you’re digging your own grave these days; the grave of your very faith tradition.
Your willingness to align yourself with cruelty is a costly marriage. Yes, you’ve gained a Supreme Court seat, a few months with the Presidency as a mouthpiece, and the cheap high of temporary power—but you’ve lost a whole lot more.
You’ve lost an audience with millions of wise, decent, good-hearted, faithful people with eyes to see this ugliness. You’ve lost any moral high ground or spiritual authority with a generation. You’ve lost any semblance of Christlikeness. You’ve lost the plot. And most of all you’ve lost your soul.
I know it’s likely you’ll dismiss these words. The fact that you’ve even made your bed with such malevolence, shows how far gone you are and how insulated you are from the reality in front of you. But I had to at least try to reach you. It’s what Jesus would do.
Thank you....I was Republican for too long.....but I was shocked that Trump was chosen to lead our country.....that was the "death blow" for me .....the end'''NO MORE!!!!
Unfortunately I have dear friends in the church who refuse to see reality in full view.
Your letter is well written, truthful and needed. I can only continue to pray that, "Truth Will Out"
I was also "Pro Life" without question but years later watching the reality of a young woman left alone basically after the first year her baby is born or in other very difficult situations.....really alone....struggling with emotional issues, financial difficulties....etc. I realized it must be the CHOICE of the woman who is carrying the boby.....she is really alone in so many ways.....it is difficult but the choice must belong to her. She should not be made to feel like a criminal by anyone.
Well said, Emily. It is hard to look at some of our beliefs and find that we are, if not wrong, then at least misguided. With respect to abortion, Roe/Dobbs, etc. it is ever more obvious that it is not about the babies but about control of women's bodies. I suspect there is a more sinister undercurrent in the drive to keep white people in a position of numerical superiority as well.
which is foolish because this will affect poor people more than those who can find an abortion elsewhere and many of the poor are POC.
I think they are pinning their hopes on poor whites. I don't think they even consider BIPOC in any decision they make.
Your open-heart and quiet wisdom about this issue identifies where so many of us are. Yet, we are kept from putting this issue behind us. Or even putting it in an open, honest conversation. This issue is a supreme money machine for far too many controlling people. How do we thwart that manipulation? My heart aches because I do not know.
WOW
That was beautifully and powerfully written (and I’m an atheist!!)
Pavlovitz is one of the good ones. I, too, am an atheist but I subscribe to his newsletter and you can read his posts on his website. This one came out a while ago; he , HCR, and Politics Girl posts are the things that keep me sane.
I think that there's probably more atheists since the trump nomination than we can imagine. I grew up catholic. The "brainwashing" never took hold. I escaped as soon as I was out from under parental control. I don't know what I am and at 72, I'm not worried about it. There's a lot of different way to believe in the afterlife, if there is one and I choose to be surprised! Did my Christian upbringing make me the person I am or was it good, loving parent that taught me right from wrong? Probably some of both.
I can concur. I am not exactly an atheist, but I do not subscribe to a god of some kind, more like a universal energy. In my daily life, since I love to garden, I am probably more like a pagan as I pay attention to the changes of the seasons among other things and rejoice in nature. My mother was religious and my father was not. I prefer the idea of spiritual. I also practice reiki which influences my outlook. I also confess that one of the most spiritual moments of my life was a mass said by the brother of a friend in one of the oldest Christian chapels in the catacombs of Rome. We were married in a concelebrated high nuptial mass by our Irish priest school principals in Freetown, Sierra Leone, by special permission of the bishop who was also Irish...since we were not Catholic. Two Catholic friends took communion on our behalf. The stipulation was that we had to have been baptized and we both had been.
I second that. (I'm also an atheist.)
H.H. Rose you have connected the dots between what utterly destroyed indigenous American culture and what is fanning the embers of destruction of todays American culture. The wide spread use of the most dangerous animal on the planet which has been noted as a “middle aged Christian white lady”, has shifted focus of its amoebic suffocation and has engulfed the Supreme Court enroute to engulfing the neural centers of American politics. Was it a good thing when we the people stood by and clapped as the indigenous population was euthanized? Was it a good thing as we watched the destruction of SCOTUS? Was it a good thing as we watched the destruction of the news media? We the people are finding it is our turn in the barrel now. How is that working for us?
"Euthanized" is the wrong word. "Murdered" is more like it.
Marx might have exaggerated when he said that religion is 'the opium of the people' but it certainly fills that function for too many Republican voters.
No exaggeration, IMO. My "awakening" was decades ago, and for many years I have at least tried to give the religious the benefit of the doubt in things political and moral. No longer. Fear of death and the void that it suggests, the desire for life to continue after death, and fear of things unknown, are the only reasons for religion. And too often bad people take that and use it for control and power - been that way as long as religion has existed. Progress and the advance of science are anathema to organized religion. They loosen the hold, question their dogma. Organized religion depends on the continued belief of the people in things not provable - to have "faith". An entity with so much power over people, that has as its primary tenet an insistence to believe in fairy tales, is a very very dangerous thing. And the more that entity denies facts as those facts continue to develop (excellent example is global warming), the more dangerous and unhinged that entity becomes. An increasingly unmoored evangelical Christianity fits in very well with Republican conservatism, which is rooted in racism, xenophobia, and oligarchism. It has gotten out of hand. If anything, Marx "under-exaggerated".
Thank you Pastor John Pavlovitz. Well said!
Thank You! Love Pastor John Pavlovich!! Exactly: "But I had to at least try to reach you. It's what Jesus would do." I posted this yesterday, specifically to reach my christotrumper friends and relatives. I fear none would read to that critical last line.
I posted this on about 12-15 faux programs until they stopped allowing me to post.
It felt wonderful.
Finally! But this needs serious ACTION behind the words. There is MUCH to atone for.
I sent this to a friend of mine who is a reborn Christian for many years. She was deeply offended by this letter and wrote to me about how this paints a huge paintbrush against ALL evangelicals. I saw her point and said he should have stated "White Supremacist" Evangelicals or those cloaked in religion. I apologized and respect her opinion. It also surprised me that she considered herself an evangelical as she is one of the most open-minded people I know about all paths, genders and sexual identities, spiritualities, and she NEVER tries to convert anyone. We are going to have more discussions on my, perhaps stereotypical impression of what an evangelical is based on people I know and what I have read and seen. I would never have put her into the group. So, I am about to explore this as i love her like a sister, very dearly. I also love her courage to speak out about this and how she feels hurt and that this will turn off people. I agree, one word might have changed the entire offensiveness she experienced.
Here’s a message for your white evangelical friend: 80% of white evangelicals voted for Trump and therefore cannot be described as decent human beings. For white Americans overall, “only” 60% voted for Trump. So, as many 40% of white Americans may be decent human beings while at most 20% of white evangelicals qualify for that designation. That is, white evangelicals are substantially worse people, on the average, than white Americans overall, who as a group are plenty damn bad enough. If white evangelicals were no worse, on the average, than white Americans overall, Trump and many Republican legislators would never have been elected. When we criticize white evangelicals, we do not paint them all with the same brush. We allow that as many as 20% of them may be decent human beings.
Rex as a white person of faith I must agree that this group of which I am a part, is most easily brainwashed and used by the Republican Party. I find myself sadly alone among lifetime friends. There is no reasoning. I pray their eyes will be opened.
Thank you, Rex, I think she is understanding that many of them give evangelicals a bad name and are just using it as a mask, whether they know it or not. Appreciate your input!
Thanks for posting this. Another letter I'd like to see published in national media.
White Supremacist Evangelicals by their warped beliefs will all burn in hell!
Too true. I suspect that the theory of “burn in hell” is to give injustice a final, deserved after-life that it managed to avoid on earth. It is a well-used metaphor for final justice unattainable in the “real” world!
https://www.milwaukeeindependent.com/john-pavlovitz/john-pavlovitz-open-letter-white-evangelicals/
Cruelty in the name of self righteous religiosity is a very old story.
The Inquisition was doing god's work, burning men and women alive at the stake to offer their souls directly up to God...in the smoke
WOW! Just WOW! How can we be sure everyone reads this?
Post it everywhere and send to all your friends!!
DOUBLE WOW!!!!!
May I add TRIPLE WOW!? ;) Seriously. The so-called Evangelicals, Born-Agains, the Religious Right, whatever you want to call them -- such hypocrisy!
Agreed on the hypocrisy! A quick note that some faiths that historically use “evangelical” (in its original etymological way) are very progressive-Evangelical Lutheran church where I serve lunch for unhoused and do a food distribution weekly (adjacent to Tompkins Square Park in NYC-a high need area) is highly progressive socially and very focused on justice.
QUADRUPLE WOW!!!
Hypocrisy only matters to people who think their behavior and its effect on others defines them. These types will do a 180 and insist they never moved. They can square any circle you give them.
Thank you for sharing this! It states so clearly everything that I have wondered and been confused about.
Michael,
In my experience with the Southern Baptist Church, those most likely to use God as an excuse for their actions were also most likely to be seeking something other than those tenets laid out by Jesus on the Sermon in the Mount.
In other words, the cynical use of God to support the acquisition of power is not really religious zealotry. It is mostly just plain old power seeking, hding behind "God".
Those folks that I have met that were most kind, most likely to help others, and most gentle were ALSO most likely to rarely or never mention "God". Rather, you could see "God" working through them without their need to proclaim anything about their "faith".
Former President Carter comes to mind. His work with Habitat for Humanity and other organizations over the last several decades speaks volumes.
My father was a quiet believer that never really said anything about his faith. He spoke with a thunders voice through actions - always helping people, always fixing things for people and always honest. He was an election precinct judge for many years as a republican but would be sick of the GOP today. He would never have voted for Trump.
I loved that man and still miss him after 22 years.
Sounds much like my father who also died 22 years ago.
Yes, and most inspired, and most likely, by their steady example, to remind us of what we ourselves Know to be true.
Pharisees all, throw them out of the temple
My son in law is one of those.
One of the reasons that my son recently made the difficult decision to break up with his girlfriend (a bright woman) was because she and her family leaned too far right on the political spectrum and it was not something he could reconcile as much as he tried. They are "mid 30-somethings", so ideology is a bit more set and less likely to change (particularly with family) - although mine did! Past decades of political discord were nothing compared to today's toxic criminal and dangerous political environment that has split friends, family, and relationships.
I think what has happened is that this "thing" has evolved beyond politics. Politics are the curtain that evil is hiding behind these daze. The extreme right have made the unthinkable not only possible, they encourage their minions to rebuke virtuous people for "judging" them for their evil thoughts. Things that good hearted American citizens used to be ashamed of even thinking have been brought to the fore and even made to seem to be "cool" ? I think it is good because now it's all out in the open - Good vs. Evil !
What I am told, frequently, when I engage with those folks whose outlook is completely opposite of mine is (and I paraphrase) "everything you think about us, we think about you." I do not know how to counter that. A sincerely held belief cannot be addressed with facts and honest dialogue.
You cannot pierce brainwashing easily. But I have a friend who has worked on three family members over 6 years and two have seen the light. It was with repetitive messaging to break their lying, angry hateful repetitive messaging from the repug cult. She did it with the utmost love. I do not bother with my older brother and his wife. He was violent and macho growing up and contributed nothing to my life but disrespect of women, pigmentation, and inappropriate jokes and screeds. Not one of the biggest losses of my life.
There are distinct, indisputable differences between the ever-more extreme right and us: we believe in the Constitution and the rule of law, and we don't use lies and violence to address our grievances. Granted, making this argument will get you nowhere.
Ha ! ha ! ha ! It's so juvenile. They have taken cues from Alex Jones, Kelly - alternative facts- Conway , et al. These are some very scared and desperate people.
Look, I don't like all Black people. I don't like all White people. I like rational , logical people of all tribes. These folks have been told that there is a conspiracy to wipe out White people - the great reset? If I believed that $#!t, I'd be scared too !
I’m not sure that I am coping Gailee. It’s the elephant in the room so to speak. We just avoid political and religious discussion when we are together. It’s so weird to have a family divided. It’s always been okay to have different ideologies and subsequent discussion and arguments. But it’s different now and I can only speak from my own experience .
That is me and us.
I'm going to assume that your son in law is intelligent and successful. So when you bring up all kinds of facts that go against the lies, what is his answer? For instance , when "Evangelical Christians" are asked 'how can they back someone with such low moral behaviors' their reply is 'don't pay any attention to what he says; look at what he does.' ?
I don't get into those discussions as they would do no good. He is a zealot
I didn't realize how much until after they married. Like Trumpkins, an educated conversation is not possible.
Gailee, I'm sorry to hear that.
I have some in my family too Gailee
How do you cope?
Serve beans for dinner and then keep all the windows shut tight!
HA!!!! THAT'S GOOD!!!! :D
🤣🤣🤣
I've cut off almost all connection with my "Christian" family. Hard, but the only way for me to stay sane.
🌷🌷🌷hugs
Us too…it is so frightening
to see and hear what they say😳
How do you cope?
Divorce him!
My daughter is not as radical, but also embraces religiosity.
People who believe that their rightness was bestowed upon them by their god are dangerous, I'll grant you that. But I still think the most dangerous force in nature is the scared white man. There is a lot of overlap between these two groups.
Regarding historical evidence, wasn't one of the reasons given for overturning Roe that it didn't fit with the historical characteristics of the United States? I don't remember the exact language, but the point is that cohering with history was introduced by the Court as part of the justification for overturning Roe. Not sure which history they're referring to. Apparently neither were the historians.
It's your last sentence Michael that has my stomach tied in knots.
The six, led by a commando parachuted in for the sole purpose of sabotaging the Constitution and destroying the Federal Government.
I still wonder how they managed to capture Roberts and bring him with them, but perhaps that's naive on my part...
Peter, Chief Justice Roberts molded the court to the right. With Trump's appointments, SCOTUS moves even further to the right..
'John Glover Roberts, a 25-year-old graduate of Harvard Law School, arrived in Washington in early 1980. Harvard Law professor Morton Horwitz described Roberts as “a conservative looking for a conservative ideology in American history,” and he found that ideology in the nation’s capital, first as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice William Rehnquist and then as an influential aide in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department.'
'At the time, Rehnquist and the Reagan administration were at the vanguard of a new conservative counterrevolution in the law—a legal backlash against the historic and liberal-leaning civil rights laws of the 1960s. Just months before Roberts came to Washington, the Supreme Court had significantly limited the scope of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965. As a young lawyer, Roberts eagerly took up the conservative cause, becoming a key foot soldier in the effort to preserve that decision and weaken the VRA.'
'It was a fight Roberts would continue decades later, when he replaced Rehnquist as chief justice and authored the majority opinion in a landmark case gutting the VRA in 2013. Fifty years after the passage of the landmark civil rights law, and 35 years after he first worked so hard to dismantle it, Roberts remains at the center of an impassioned debate about voting rights in America, one that shows no signs of ending anytime soon.' (PoliticoMagazine) Link below.
'The Pro-Money Court: How the Roberts Supreme Court Dismantled Campaign Finance Law' (BrennanCenterforJustice) Link below.
'Money Unlimited
How Chief Justice John Roberts orchestrated the Citizens United decision.' (NewYorker) See link below.
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/john-roberts-voting-rights-act-121222
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/pro-money-court-how-roberts-supreme-court-dismantled-campaign-finance-law
Thank you! The Citizens United decision is at the core of our problems. The fact that corporations can buy elections undermines the integrity of our democracy in ways that are limitless. But the big one, the most rotten, is the ability of the fossil fuel industry to fight efforts to combat Climate Change. And that is simply the assassination of a planet and it's inhabitants. Therefore, John Roberts is an accessory to murder. Mass murder.
The voters are at the core of our problem. The voters in Kentucky (my State) have kept McConnell in Office for decades while he molded the Courts as he wanted. The voters in the last election who reelected Graham, were fooled by Younkin, nominated Herschel Walker, ignored DeSantis, laughed at Boebert carry the blame for this Democracy crisis. Those Americans who minimize the danger and maximize their own comfort are the ones ultimately responsible for this mess. It has become fashionable to be unconcerned. Gas prices have become more important than the price of freedom. Civility has been silenced by crassness. Being told what to think by FOX or CNN is the easiest play. Knowing batting averages is more important than knowing someone's voting record. Finding the best vacation deal is more important than finding the best candidate. Strategic voting is ignored because my 'preferred Candidate makes me feel good and I'll ignore the fact that they will siphon voters away from the Party nominee' are the problem. Patriotism is passé. It has been replaced by the belief that the needs of the self outweigh the needs of the greater good.
In the cacophony of the trauma, degradation of society, invasion of technology and lack of a spiritual connection to anything the American voter has lost their collective minds and their way.
Barbara,
You are soooo correct. The selfishness of individuals over fellow Americans seems to be in high regard. We see it everywhere and it makes me sick. I always try to understand those who do not agree with me by having a rational conversation but it seems nearly impossible now. Either they choose not to discuss or start yelling at me. Every day life has become more of a challenge and I don't want to become another "ignorance is bliss" person. I do have to lay off the news from time to time in order to get my body back to working properly so I understand those who choose not to discuss. But they can't/shouldn't make it a way of life. Then they become part of the problem.
I was talking to just one of those people yesterday. He was tanned and refreshed and having a great Summer. When I brought up the January 6 Committee he said "Oh no one cares about that anymore." When I brought up the Supreme Court decisions (he is an attorney) he just shrugged. He voted for Biden and may or may not again. His whole attitude is exactly what I described. And there are tons of them.
The most involved and invested crowd? MAGAs.
Citizens made uncitizens, citizens displaced, silenced by the Heavy Metal blast of "Citizens United", replaced by corporations... by the monopoly Voice of the New Citizen Corporate, by Kremlin by Mammon by Mindless and by Rupert Moloch, by an infestation of their swarming lobbyists, by the Power-That-Comes-Out-From-The-Barrel-Of-A-Gun, by Shysters-Who-Think-For-And-Command-Us, by Anything Goes... by you name it...
But we are human beings, not meat on the hoof in a feedlot.
They cannot reach our spirit.
You see how people can be manipulated. Many millions of Americans believe that Trump won the presidential election, and many are captured by conspiracy theories that suit their biases. Today's Letter was about fact finding and sharing the truth with the American people. It is very difficult to get through to folks whose identities mesh with the lies.
But they reached the voters' minds, wallets and ballot. Voters are largely missing in fighting all the occurrences you mention. That is why these institutions thrive.
We are ultimately responsible for what we create.
"The problem with America is Americans". Mike S.
I tried to heart this and wasn’t able. I think this is exactly right :(
George W Bush went on a massive fundraising tear to keep the Senate in Republican hands in 2020. This is still what “classic” Republicans want.
Bill, that latest decision has me thinking they've lost their souls to big oil. They obviously have chosen $$$ over their families, their friends, their fellow Americans and the rest of the world. I fear what's next.
Thank you, Fern, for this clear, as usual well-researched and documented, expose.
I, however, assumed that Justice Roberts was also a jurist...
I did not take him for another Justice Thomas, i.e. a millstone tied to the body of the Supreme Court... but so massively heavy and inert that no one could shift the object to the Atlantic to complete the job...
Readers should, however, try to gain access to a long and detailed article by Jill Abramson in today's FT Magazine entitled "In the ultimate coup for the right, it's Justice Thomas's Supreme Court now".
In her closing paragraph, Ms. Abramson notes that what I saw as a millstone is now far from inert. She cites the recent dissent in which he falsely asserted that Covid vaccines were developed using "aborted foetuses"...
*
Elsewhere, I note how, in a NYT op-ed piece, President Reagan's daughter Patti Davis, marked for life by the trauma of her father's attempted assassination by a man carrying a concealed weapon, drew what I see as the essential lessons from America's unending gun violence.
Americans appear by and large to have been so browbeaten, confused and bamboozled as to be quite incapable of drawing useful conclusions from events. Hence the great importance of calls to order like this one...
I cite a few basic points:
"There are people in America who want the rest of us to be afraid."
*
"Gun violence has turned America into a weakened country."
*
"FEAR IS A BREEDING GROUND FOR AUTOCRACY."
Peter, I just checked to learn what Jill Abramson's professional connection might be to the Supreme Court. I am smiling because she wrote children's book that is just coming out called 'What Is the Supreme Court? (What Was?)' Paperback – July 19, 2022.
The articles I provided were not what would be considered exposes. They were about Roberts; decisions and how they reflected his judicial temperament and political philosophy
I see, I was maybe thinking in French, not of exposing what's hidden but of simply setting out facts.
According to FT Magazine, Jill Abramson has closely followed the career of one man -- Justice Thomas...
Yes, Peter, she along with other journalists were incensed at the treatment of Anita Hill who accused Thomas of sexual harassment. Many people were very angry about how she didn't have the slightest chance of making her case. She was disrespected and maligned. Biden headed the Judiciary Committee and did a very poor job in this instance.
Peter, I am in a rush now, however, I will soon send you a short list of the most highly respected legal experts and journalists who cover and or write about the Court. Justice Kavanaugh is considered the swing vote among the rightwing conservative justices, sometimes leaning in Roberts' direction. On the extreme, Alito has more influence than Thomas. I don't believe Jill Abramson ever covered the Court.
Peter or Fern, I would love those links also.
Hi Jeanne. I provided the links in my comments. I am sorry that I won't be able to help you if you come up against a paywall.
Unfortunately, I neglected to provide the link for the New Yorker article by Jeffrey Toobin, the well regarded chief legal analyst for CNN, was a staff writer at The New Yorker from 1993 to 2020.
'.In one sense, the story of the Citizens United case goes back more than a hundred years. It begins in the Gilded Age, when the Supreme Court barred most attempts by the government to ameliorate the harsh effects of market forces. In that era, the Court said, for the first time, that corporations, like people, have constitutional rights. The Progressive Era, which followed, saw the development of activist government and the first major efforts to limit the impact of money in politics. Since then, the sides in the continuing battle have remained more or less the same: progressives (or liberals) vs. conservatives, Democrats vs. Republicans, regulators vs. libertarians. One side has favored government rules to limit the influence of the moneyed in political campaigns; the other has supported a freer market, allowing individuals and corporations to contribute as they see fit. Citizens United marked another round in this contest.'
See link to this article below.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/05/21/money-unlimited
Have the Ivy League schools become indoctrination centers for the right?
Great links Fern.
Thanks.
It's not naïve. It's an important question that I think many of us are asking.
Gailee, Roberts' moved the Court to the right. I suppled Peter will several links. He is not familiar with Roberts decisions. It will not be difficult for you to learn about
Roberts using Google. There are a good number of topnotch sources. PS Roberts; gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Thank you Fern
with pleasure, Gailee
Great links, thank you very much! Now to dive in....
He lost control, but he was always a Citizens United man, throwing a few crumps to obscure the trail.
…and against racial remedies.
If Robert’s was as wise as he believes he is, he would have resigned months ago.
Wise??? Only he thinks.
Keep wondering. It’s not naive at all. Fence sitters can always dramatically tip back the other way.
Salud, Peter. 🗽
Christine, Roberts gutted the the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He's no fence sitter. Roberts' molded the court to the right. I've supplied Peter with several links.
When it comes down to it, Fern, he molded too far right and lost control. Watch him teeter back. Or try. His is a balancing act hanging on by a thread to a legacy he perhaps does not deserve.
My opinion.
Salud, Fern. 🗽
In fact, Christine, while Roberts is quite conservative, five of the current Justices are to the right of him - Thomas, Alito, Gorsuch, Coney Barrett, and Kavanaugh; the last sometimes joins Roberts. They are in a hurry. I recommend that you read the links I provided Peter as a start.
Already did. Thanks, as always. Have read and listened to aplenty regarding this court.
That’s a tenet of fascism. Passion, feeling, faith above logic, reason, and truth.
With lying, skewing and propaganda as the path to rule. Where have we seen that before???
Hmmmm. If I could just put my finger on it.... <sarcasm font>
Right wing extremists are the fools deceived into encouragement of anti-American activities.
Right wing extremists are the tools employed by elite white wealth to do their dirty work keeping the hands of the elite lily white.
Right wing extremists are the dumb asses who will be imprisoned in lieu of the white elite who are the true enslavement of the Great Deceiver!
Follow the money...don't waste your time on the right wing extremists...dry up the money source and POOOF!
No more right wing extremists!
One can hope.
Are you from Eugene, or are you a UO grad?
The Supreme Court majority’s blatant ignoring of precedent and historical perspective undermines their authority. It is not pointless engaging them.
The “supreme” irony is that it is not possible for them to ultimately function as a branch of government being a “sworn enemy of democracy”.
Cracks are widening. My thought Is that the “majority” will not hold.
Salud, Jim. 🗽
Are you seeing a dual between Roberts and Thomas? Hahaha, can’t wait…
It's useful to go on record with the truth, sure. It won't affect the SCOTUS six, one whit.
The Six are fanatics, which Churchill defined as "people who can't change their minds and won't change the subject." If they weren't, they wouldn't have passed muster with the Federalist Society. Heather makes this point repeatedly. So don't look for any evolution of thought on this bench. Again, paraphrasing Heather: that's exactly what they were recruited to prevent.
Internal contradictions only matter to people of good faith. For bad faith people, "War is peace, Slavery is Freedom, Ignorance is Strength." And they're just fine with that, because it suits their purposes.
Power skews, these are just a new generation of the greedy (power and money) bastards that Ronnie installed to upend our democracy. Except for Rupert, he is the bridge, brought in to dump a mountain of dirty tricks and lies on those eager to lap them up and pass them on.
The historians may have written to the Injustices; they did not write for them. They wrote for the rest of us, to correct the record, and strength the case for overturning the egregious actions of the INJustices.
Right wing extremist truth is rooted in belief in the false which is elevated to sacred value. It is religious in nature, and religious “belief“ is impervious to reason. The only thing that will pry it loose is another belief. Their community of “knowledge“ will not allow that to happen. Factual evidence will have no effect. Their leaders must be indicted and convicted. All the way to the top of course.
There is one hell of a problem with blind faith in America -- typically blind faith in tenets that the believer hasn't even begun to understand but has been well conditioned to sign up to and take for granted; typically, blind faith in two or more totally incompatible beliefs (such as God and Mammon), all of which makes for a double-bind and further undermines the believer's sanity... Hence mass psychoses. Either those or lip-service to the one, enslavement to the other...
Blind faith in and worship of the Constitution -- reduced to fetish -- does nothing for the upholding of said Constitution but plays into the hands of those bent on subverting and replacing it... Another object of this idiot's form of religious faith is Holy $... And/Or... Our Great Leader, President DT...
All of this is tied up with rooted dualism -- shared by believers and unbelievers alike, even the amoral who couldn't give a damn about "good and evil" -- this, and the sense of separation and alienation that it inculcates.
Erich Fromm wrote some excellent passages on faith, both rational and irrational, which I can strongly recommend: https://fromm-online.org/en/glaube/
See also https://delphinius56.wordpress.com/2014/04/12/erich-fromm-the-art-of-love-faith/#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20rational%20faith,unstable%20of%20all%20human%20achievements. from which I quote two paragraphs:
"While irrational faith is rooted in submission to a power which is felt to be overwhelming strong, omniscient and omnipotent, and in the abdication of one’s own power and strength, rational faith is based upon the opposite experience… We have faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind because, and only to the degree which, we have experienced the growth of our own potentialities, the reality of growth in ourselves, the strength of our own power of reason and of love. The basis of rational faith is productiveness… It follows that the belief in power (in the sense of domination) and the use of power are the reverse of faith. To believe in power that exists is identical with disbelief in the growth of potentialities which are as yet unrealized. It is a prediction of the future based solely on the manifest present; but it turns out to be a grave miscalculation, profoundly irrational in its oversight of the human potentialities and human growth. There is no rational faith in power. There is submission to it or, on the part of those who have it, the wish to keep it. While to many power seems to be the most real of all things, the history of man has proved it to be the most unstable of all human achievements. Because of the fact that faith and power are mutually exclusive, all religions and political systems which originally are built on rational faith become corrupt and eventually lose what strength they have, if they rely on power or ally themselves with it.
To have faith requires courage, the ability to take a risk, the readiness even to accept pain and disappointment. Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whosoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner. To be loved, and to love, need courage, the courage to judge certain values as of ultimate concern – and to take the jump and stake everything on these values."
I myself happen to be religious, despite having had a skeptical outlook since childhood, but this outlook is grounded in questioning, in searching and in life's experience. It has involved a lifelong stripping away of beliefs, most of which turn out to have been parasitic attachments, often arising out of bad habits -- a problem of mental hygiene... I find that many atheist friends are attached to the ideas they worked out for themselves, products of intellect rather than direct insight... Excellent crutches.
Anyway, enough of that. What we all need, yet so many fear and flee, is to strive to find and establish ourselves in the true freedom that we intrinsically are.
I hope readers don't mind me sharing this view (which is not easy to express because it is so unfamiliar to most of us heavily conditioned Westerners) but our culture has, over a long period of time, become so skewed out of kilter by all that is extrinsic and irrelevant and is moving faster and faster away from what we are towards what we decidedly are not that I feel bound to try to say these things. Thanks for your patience and pardon me if I've said it all badly!
But I'd be the first to confirm that letting go of familiar mental constructs and guardrails can be scary and may call for help from people who've overcome such dependency...
Thank you for this! “Whoever insists on safety and security as primary conditions of life cannot have faith; whosoever shuts himself off in a system of defense, where distance and possession are his means of security, makes himself a prisoner.”
Peter, I appreciated your explanation of states in which people are bound and of faith in the words of Erich Fromm, to quote ‘… faith in the potentialities of others, of ourselves, and of mankind, and only to the degree which, we have experienced the growth of our own potentialities, the reality of growth in ourselves, the strength of our own power of reason and of love. The basis of rational faith is productiveness…’ I share that understanding of faith, Peter, and happy to take it out of the pigeonhole I had put it in. Once faith moved beyond a person I trusted and with whom there was understanding, faith became associated with religion, a construct, a system that I was not comfortable with.
Existence is a combination of experiences and emotions, learning, communicating, and creating. It is movement, change, interchange, responsibility and discovery. What you mean by faith, I call being alive. It is the wonder of life, both difficult and abundant and brimming for many of us with relationships. Ah, there’s the rub, and the excitement, the differences, the playfulness and the adventures, the teaching, the listening and the warmth, the loneliness, the caring and the love.
Chilling.
Yes. Armed religious fanatics. Ring a bell?
Do they really simply have access to a different version of the truth, or are they all just grifting and scamming?
follow the money
Agree, but doing so is a huge challenge. This likely is the darkest money of all.
Both/and
The higher truth conveniently absolves the grift.
I think they occupy a contrived reality and are intent on making it our reality. Grifting and scamming? Seems they were groomed to launch what some writer called a polite coup. Did the grooming include financial inducements? That's plausible but I doubt we'll ever know.
Hi Michael! Have to get Sheldon Whitehouse on it. His presentation on the dark money steering the Court at Amy Conan Barrett's confirmation hearing was superb. He challenged her to change it once she was on the court-- but at least to be aware of what was happening. It is his mission. Maybe we WILL find out about any financial inducements... particularly around Kavanaugh's disappeared gambling debt.
Whitehouse is brilliant on the topic.
Michael!
"...That's plausible but I doubt we'll ever know..."
"We" have known about the absolute power of the bigoted white Elite's enormous discretionary wealth commanding the development and continuing support of such "contrived reality" for a long time thanks to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's various detailed Congressional revelations.
What I mean is whether we'll ever know specifically if money or other financial benefits went directly to the three Trump appointees. And the financial value.
Michael
May I suggest that people who are captivated by that which even a ten year old knows is surely illegal would only pursue such high risk grab at what they have been deceived into believing is an obtainable enhancement of an otherwise impossible, (for them), level of power status will only be motivated by "easy money".
Sad but true.
Thank you, Heather, for making sense of the labyrinthine machinations of the events of Jan 6. You really help me separate “fact from fiction”. And keep sending those gorgeous photographs.
From Christopher in Dublin, Ireland
Today’s letter trusts our efforts at fact finding, learning the truth and sharing it with the American people against the flood of mendacity, trickery, conspiracies, manipulation and propaganda that is drowning our democracy.
Can we get out from under it?
- ‘Thanks to the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol, we are learning more about just how deep that plot ran, and more evidence is dropping almost daily.’
- ‘Trump’s White House counsel Pat A. Cipollone to testify in a videotaped, transcribed interview.’
- ‘There is movement on other issues surrounding the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, as well. Yesterday, a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury issued a subpoena for Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), among others…’
- ‘There are more subpoenas in the news. Today, New York state judge Arthur F. Engoron held Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate firm that valued the Trump properties under investigation by New York attorney general Letitia James, in contempt of court for failing to comply with subpoenas about the valuation of certain Trump properties.’
- ‘The slow accumulation of facts over fiction might well become a financial crisis for those who participated in Trump’s narrative. The Fox News Corporation, One America News Network, and Newsmax are currently facing multibillion dollar lawsuits from Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, a voting machine company and an election software company, that those channels claimed had stolen the 2020 election for Biden.’
- ‘Angelo Carusone, chief executive officer of Media Matters for America, told Gabbatt: “I think once you start to pull the discovery material, what you’re going to find is there was a lot of communication between the Trump people both internally and externally about pushing very specific lies and narratives.”
- ‘Both the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association, the flagship organizations of professional historians in the U.S., along with eight other U.S. historical associations (so far), yesterday issued a joint statement expressing dismay that the six Supreme Court justices in the majority in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade ignored the actual history those organizations provided the court and instead “adopted a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than thirty years.”
‘What all these demands for information under oath do is establish what really happened, in contrast to the false narratives political operatives have spun in front of television cameras and on the internet, where they are not bound by any requirement to tell the truth.’ (Letter)
Our government is making monumental efforts to shine the light on the truth. We have a great deal to be proud of here, and we are part of the American army of truthtellers. We are marching on!
O! My goodness sakes!
Fern!
You may have exceeded your daily allotment of authorized News Letter space!
Your discussion's burgeoning length reminds me of the time Amadeus was commanded by the King to, "...just remove a few notes..." from the magnificent opera Amadeus performed for this simpleton majesty.
Nevertheless, you'd maybe be lucky to get a president as with-it today as Kaiser Joseph II was in his time...
It is truly a Labyrinth
Labyrinth indeed!
“Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine”― Sun Tzu. SCOTUS being called out by historical associations I think important in that it is object facts contracted by experts yet relied upon by 6 Justices so it takes the debate out of the context of 'we SCOTUS are the experts on law' and puts where it belongs, 'we 6 Justices are disingenuous partisan hacks'.
Decades of discrediting science and academia aren’t just tools and tactics for anti climate change, but weapons against democracy.
👍👍👍
Love this ' “Wheels of justice grind slow but grind fine”― Sun Tzu '
Sun Tzu was a great thinker. Now, unfortunately, it is heavy artillery and the tracks of tanks that grind finer. And the Autocrat who alone has the right to think about, speak about and direct the thoughts, speech and actions of his subjects... never knew how to think responsibly in the first place, being quite incapable of even the most minimal empathy. Like his American disciple.
Americans can still exercise choice this year... even meaningful choice if they can get around too very basic thinking... Next year? The year after?
It may be that too many Americans simply don't care. Are not interested in anything other than video games and weekends. The fall will be much faster than that of Rome.
I like what you have said not one bit -- who could?
Yet there's every reason to fear the insight.
Fearful is the combination with Russia's implosion and the limitless ambitions of an inhuman Chinese despot, while all attention is turned away from the overarching danger, the climate.
Great phrasing, Mr. Stark.
Well put!
Imagine, even as a lark, if Fox News and its wannabe dispensers of 1984-esque truth were brought to their knees by Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic lawsuits.
One can dream.
This would be TRUE justice. I wonder if the fact that millions of Americans are hoping for and imagining this result right now will move the needle. I am not a "spiritual" guy, so my logic driven brain doesn't really believe in such creative visualization. But it can't hurt to try.
So...all together now...LET US FOCUS. Picture FNC busted!
Bill, just my take, but I have always thought of the ability to creatively imagine to be a higher intellectual faculty. So, no conflict with your logical dimension, which is also a faculty of intelligence! So let us happily and with gusto picture a busted FNC!!!!!
Thanks. But let me clarify.
My wife and I use "creative visualization" as personal tools to guide our lives. We set a goal, picture it, refer to it frequently and then make the decisions necessary to actualize the goal. It works!
Well-done, Bill! Change can happen at any age!!
I do 24/7. Can’t wait for the old MAGAts at my assisted living to eat dirt.
🤔😏😆😅😂🤣
🤣🤣🤣👏👏👏👏
I like the idea. Saving it for my next sleepless night. I have some great dreams, with complex dialogue and well-defined characters, and I can even remember them when I wake up.
Here’s a bit of encouragement:
In response to Scott MacFarlane’s tweet, Stephanie Peace wrote, I got news for Lindsey Graham. Fani Willis [the Fulton County District Attorney] is in it for the long haul! She’s not deterred by his antics, she’s methodical, tenacious & very seasoned. She won’t get the vapors, she’ll get the testimony. He ought to save his money & comply. Fani can play the long game too 😉
“She won’t get the vapors, she’ll get the testimony.”
Blimey Catherine - well played!!
But running out the clock is a time-tested strategy for the cult leader and his fools…
Truth
I do worry about her and Letitia James' safety tho. They are Navalny-level brave.
Glad to see Lindsay get his comeuppance. He has played it both ways for far too long! ( I think he likes it that way)
Thank you to all the History professionals for their love and respect for history, especially Professor Heather Cox Richardson. We owe you so much❤️!
Yes! 💕💕💕
No surprise Dr. Richardson, but you’ve done it once again.
Your usual stellar critique of today’s pertinent political news. Your skills and gift for lighting up the profound darkness that exists in our politics never ceases to amaze, and provide great relief. Your revelations soothe greater than any known narcotic!
Thank you,
Bob
Legal, too...until SCOTUS declares the contrary.
💕💕💕
So it appears we have a huge conspiracy to overthrow the entire US government, involving the current majority of the Court, key members of the Senate, a portion of the House, the former President and much of his top staff, and several large media outlets, including the Fox Network.
It also appears the whole conspiracy is on fire.
This should be a surprise to no one, except maybe the idiotic Foxers; may the powers that be finally be the powers that should be. We’ve had enough of pretenders, imposters, and destroyers wearing government garb, going back to Ronnie
🔥They say…. “A fire cleanses. Its smoke drifts up into the atmosphere while the ashes remain. And from those ashes new things may grow.” Funny, I thought I saw Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger stirring up some ashes after roasting some Congressional marshmallows.
Salud, Joseph. 🗽
AND, our Democracy has been on superfire for multiple decades. We fully witness, daily, the areas that must be brought up and into the 21st Century, and the areas that need annealing, strengthening not just for a chosen few, but for All of Us.
Anneal: heat (metal or glass) and allow it to cool slowly, in order to remove internal stresses and toughen it.
BIOCHEMISTRY: recombine (DNA) in the double-stranded form following separation by heat.
Enough of our Democracy's systems and our people have been under the heat, the annealing process-- and, like the Phoenix, we will rise above these ashes with a much stronger, fairer democracy for All the People, this time.
Get your marshmallows (and chocolate) and feel our new multi-colored wings spreading far and wide across this land, Heathers flock!
The Keep Dumpster in Power conspiracy may be on fire, but burning that whole thing to ashes will be gratifying but not sufficient. I now agree with the radical but necessary solution to rescue our democracy mentioned in yesterday’s comments. Many thanks, Gail!
“Gail Adams Fla/Va.
Jul 6
I posted this yesterday. It’s radical but how I’d love to see it accomplished. https://gregolear.substack.com/p/53-pick-up?r=6ptqj&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email “
The nation and Republicans must undergo a transformation. That may result in impeachment of the Supreme Court Justices that lied to reach the bench. We know who they are. They must go.
The transformation by one man stands out.
One man spoke the truth after lying for TFG - President Donald John Trump - but he was not able to publish Trump’s transcripts. Those documents are hidden at three schools for a reason. They must be published.
The man that has undergone a transformation is honest, today.
He won’t take your call. He will read your txt or email.
Michael D. Cohen has educate the authorities.
His cell phone and email are -
(646) 853-0114
mdcohen212@gmail.com
Michael Dean Cohen Esq., dob August 25, 1966, was incarcerated as an inmate - he speaks about this.
Michael D. Cohen/ Reg. #86067-054
Otisville Satellite Camp
Otisville NY 10963
United States
Heather is on target. More to come.
The 26 year old White House witness has flipped a few Trump loyalists. All will talk.
Giuliani will talk. He will be charged.
Trump will be charged. He is guilty of crime.
DOJ will act. As appropriate.
Cohen has a blockbuster podcast series going, called “mea culpa”. Excellent guest interviews. Be tolerant of his heavy New York accent and “potty mouth” - the podcast is energetic and energizing.
Abbie McMillen - guidance, please! Mea Culpa? Michael Cohen’s voice, his NYC accents, all co-mingled? Sinecure City. Something for the Jews, the taxi drivers from Bangladesh, the Ecuadorian’s lost at the border, former mothers of children lost dressed as men? Seriously, how do I get his podcast? How? Sandy
Sandy, here is one link:
https://www.audioup.com/shows/meaculpa
You can also get it via the Apple podcast or via Spotify. (Those are the only ways I know of on how to get podcasts.)
A crack becomes a ray of sunshine… then perhaps a solar storm
Cohen really was the first little ray of sunshine. I will have to write to lend my little thank you. Thank you Sandy.
He’s a good father, a good husband. He was weak and fell as others have. The orange bulky bully DJ Trump, spinning fascist rays of death - captured Michael’s boyish imagination and seduced him. He fell. Slammed, Michael rose. He did not hide. He used his daughter’s and his family’s devotion and support, and he talked the talk - and testified.
Again, Thank you for this. His testimony was riveting. We should all be thankful for his courage.
Yep.
Salud, Sandy. 🗽
Thank you, TC. You are right on!
Thank you Professor Richardson! You put it together! “The role of fact versus narrative is on display elsewhere in our government as well“ Isn’t it interesting that technology has played a role in the criminals’ attempts to hide the facts and bury the truth! And now that technology is still alive; data that is available long after facts reveal truth and lies TFG and his minions buried. “With extraordinary access to the family, Holder witnessed what the trailer portrays as the attempt of the Trump family to create an American dynasty, and its determination to hold onto power even if it meant the destruction of American democracy. “ How stupid and narcissistic can anyone be to invite a filmmaker into the house? The ultimate in Reality TV for he who loves to be the star. And then phone calls recorded for posterity. We heard them all the way from Georgia. And lawsuits by voting machine companies to recover their reputations. Each day, although late, the collaborators are waking up to the facts, from recorded phone conversations and texts and blatant misdeeds, extortion revealed, guilty and remorseful and in fear, they are getting the picture: there’s no place left to run. Now we hope for results: the criminals, including those at the very top, and all supporting the crimes, are prosecuted and pay the price. And we rid this country of elected officials who swear allegiance to power and not to the Constitution and their country. Justice.
Stupid and yet, now revealing that narcissism runs deep in this grifter family. Can’t wait to see the footage.
Why call violent coup participants rioters?
It does not seem logical nor correct to call them mere ‘rioters’. Doing so minimizes the existential threat to democracy. Yes, a riot took place, but the word is not adequate to describe Jan 6th. They are seditious perpetrators of political violence, a premeditated conspiracy with intent and behavior to destroy property, breaking and entering, violent intimidation, threaten, injure, and commit murder, in order to prevent the peaceful transfer of power outside of and inside a government building. Is ‘coupist’ a word? Would it be more correct to call them what they are in deeds and fact?
A riot is something different. A riot is an out of control mob, hell bent on mayhem, violence, destruction, sometimes for no reason, and other times as a social response, triggered by an unacceptable and grievous event, a response to something so outrageous it causes a violent reaction by many in the streets or inside a large gathering place.
Jan 6th was more than a riot. It was a violent coup based on a lie, a lie so big, coup participants could not tell the difference between reality and fiction. Believing the lie so intensely they would destroy property, disobey Police orders, break in and enter, injure, maim, assault police, and commit murder upon the innocent, with a goal of disrupting the peaceful transfer of power.
Why give willing participants in a coup another frame to deny, downplay, and dismiss the reality of their pre planing and violent assault on the Capital Police, our elected representatives, and within the halls of democracy?
Call them what they are…the cult’s leader is culpable and should be given no quarter…
Thank you for this delineation of terms. I have been sparring with a few RWNJ friends (those that still talk to me, anyway) over the difference between the protests that have turned violent following the police killings of Black men (in particular) and the seditious insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January 2021. The particular fellow I was engaging with (also a retired cop, from a municipal department in the county I was employed by) referred to the "burning of cities nation wide" and comparing that to "one small riot at the Capitol." That is how they think. I can now utilize some other language that boils around in my head with some specific intent.
“When you can’t tell the difference between the Police and the militia’s, the end is here.” -Dr. Tim Snyder, On Tyranny, 2017.
Insurrectionists
Violent criminal Insurgents?
Asha Rangappa was interviewed by MSNBC's Chris Hayes this evening, about the strategy of possible Federal prosecution of tfg under18 U.S. Code Section 2383. Section 2383 is readily understandable to anyone who saw the Jan 6th attack on TV or is reliving that attack now in granular detail. Ms. Rangappa is a former Associate Dean at the Yale School of Law, a former FBI Agent.& current Senior Lecturer at Yale's Jackson Institute. Section 2383 spells out that "whoever incites, sets foot on, assists OR engages in any rebellion OR insurrection against the authority of the United States OR the laws thereof OR gives aid & comfort thereto shall be fined ... imprisoned not more than 10 years & SHALL BE INCAPABLE OF HOLDING ANY OFFICE UNDER THE UNITED STATES i.e. disqualified to run for President. I would advise further that it would be easy to write that Verdict Form. There are some Georgia Peach state options as well.
Lock them up, our mantra now
Heather, good morning from India. There is a lot to unpack in your, as usual, brilliant assessment of what’s going on in our country. It is dizzying just to see the number of subpoenas and to whom they are being issued! “Justice” moves slowly as we know, so we await the results of these efforts to bring those behind the overthrow of our government to real justice. Thank you!
Injustice does tend to move a lot faster than justice.
That’s just because it is so slippery. I’ve observed that it eventually spins out of control and stops dead in its tracks.
Salud, Anne-Louise. 🗽
Christine
Probably because all the participants are back stabbers who are consumed by extraordinarily insatiable greed for power & money...kinda like all the trumpets, Eh!?
Salud!
Anne-Louise, Girl have you got that right! How terrible, but true.
Wow wow wow! You continually surpass the idea of “news” with your deep understanding of history that you graciously share with us all. That last bit on the Roe decision is a spotlight to the recent dark decisions of the Supreme Court. Hopefully the Republican Party will be so decimated by this,(politically) they will join Democrats in Congress to right this horrible decision by passing federal laws that overrule Dobbs. Looks like De Santis is already squirming.
I’ve been waiting for someone to bring up his name.
He is squirming badly. His “open state, c’mon down, no COVid protocols here, no state taxes, we are white and free”…… well, a segment of the “tourist industry” will depend on FL as being THE southern state to come to get an abortion. So he currently totters on the fence waiting for a court to save face for him. He can’t figure out how to keep the “base” and the suburban “clientele” and his young vote in his election basket all at the same time. Political inexperience always comes back to bite someone elected too soon or touted too early right on the kiester. The can of whoop ass awaits Desantis.
Latest poll from FiveThirtyEight shows Crist ahead of Desantis.
Salud Diane. 🗽
Fellow Floridians, More good news !
“Polling on fivethirtyeight.com shows Florida scientist and COVID-19 whistleblower Rebekah Jones leading Matt Gaetz by 6 points in the general election.”
https://www.dailykos.com/story/2022/7/2/2108057/-FiveThirtyEight-agrees-This-race-is-between-Rebekah-Jones-and-Matt-Gaetz
Christine, Thanks for the resource. Makin’ my day!😎
💜 All over the state.
Link to poll please
https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/
Sort by Governor and Florida.
Crist 51% Desantis 49%
Thank you.
I still like Nikki Fried over Crist. She seems to me better equipped as a counter to Desantis, to Authoritarianism, to fascism. Fried represents what we need most, a moral leader for the times.
Looks like Crist will be choice. Was not my first choice either but my idea from beginning still stands. I’d like to see a Crist-Fried Gov-Lt Gov ticket. Marshall all forces possible to one effort. Knock DeSantis off his fake Republican preening pedestal. He has proven his inexperience and his malicious intent against “We the People, all of us this time”.
Salud, Ted. 🗽
I like Fried too, maybe , as Christine says , on the ticket with Crist. I sadly do not think she is strong enough to carry the top of the ticket right now.
Well then, she’ll make a strong Lt Gov with Crist, and then become a Senator.
Christine, that can of whoop ass cannot come soon enough. The "anti- mandate mandator" -- running for President on all Floridians' backs!!! I am not ecstatic about Charlie but in this case glad that he is there and taking the lead. Wish Gwen Graham had won. She could have bested DeSantis. Think of what a different world we would have had here in Florida-- already the maligned and malignable State of the Union.
What a choice.
Come on Crist!!! 💙
Separation of Church(of DeSantis) and State !
Put that in your Civics lesson !
💙💙💙
We can only hope, Christine!
Salud to you!
Thank you to the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association for stepping up to the US Supreme Court. History must be recorded and used properly in accordance with the facts.
I have read several good books on the Civil War, as well as many other good history books by renowned authors, including Heather's books.
However, the most important history book to me is "Race and Reunion". Its important because it addresses how over time the former Confederates rewrote history until much of the US bought into this romantic fiction that they had been valiant, courageous, caring of their slaves, giving them homes, health and civilization, that blacks were inferior and needed close supervision and support from the superior white masters which the slaves returned with loving, loyalty, and justifiably hard work, and that the South was victimized by the industrial, communist North who destroyed the South's gentile civilized culture and life. Of course this fiction is against a backdrop of buying, selling and separating husbands, wives, babies and children, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, grandparents, aunts and uncles many many times throughout a slave's lifetime. Ten, twenty, thirty years and to this day after emancipation, black Americans have searched for their closest relatives. While the South created this new romantic American memory, they were disenfranchising blacks, terrorizing them, lynching them, segregating them, withholding resources from them, all while using them in their censuses, taking their money in taxes and fees, charging them high usury amounts, and destroying any accumulation of wealth and progress. This constant racial abuse both in the South and in the North was concealed, minimalized or justified by the false history created by the South over more than 50 years. We are still living with the damage today that the Confederates created before and after the Civil War. Their examples and patterns live on.
This is what the US Supreme Court is doing in it's current rulings and abuse of history. This what the Big Lie is all about. This is what the Republican Party is today. Attempting to create an American memory disconnected from American and World history, science, medicine, arts and culture. Indoctrination in place of education. This is why the January 6th House Committee investigation is so important. This is why Heather's letters are so important. This is why we must all be ministers of historical accuracy and facts against narratives of political propaganda and indoctrination.
Well said!