Instead of putting the Supreme Court in charge of US laws, the Framers of the Constitution did the opposite: they put Congress in charge of the Supreme Court. Why isn't congress regulating them?
Moore v. Harper is merely that last nail in the Republican Party's coffin for democracy. Yes, the case is "...antithetical to the Framers' intent," as Judge Luttig says: the vote of the people should decide the presidency, not state legislatures. But the "Framers' intent" had nothing to do with democracy. The vote of the people was limited at the time to those who were male, white, free, over 21, and most importantly, owners of property: "freeholders" was James Madison's word. This amounted to 2.5% of the population, a crypto-nobility. The Framers' thought this right and proper, unequivocally and unanimously. Popular democracy to them was unthinkable.
Not until 1971 was the last of the restrictive voter qualifications removed, and universal suffrage attained. It took almost 200 years to overcome the "Framers' intent." We built a popular democracy in spite of the Framers' intent, not because of it.
Yes, SCOTUS should by no means authorize Independent State Legislature theory, but far more important is the defeat of the Republican Party in the midterm election. "Vote early and vote often!!"
Who would have thought, before Trump, that our electorate is so weighted with people who would vote against their own interests? What a revelation Trump has been. And, we aren't dealing with the wealth inequality that's causal to this, where so many people are so pissed off that they'll vote for what's outside the system they are in. We stay on the surface trying to keep our democracy, where what to do about the underlying causes that most threaten it should be front and center.
SCOTUS Protects and Empowers Two Small Minorities: Oligarchs & Christianist Evangelicals
I shared the following with the SCOTUS Public Information Office:
"I have little respect for any Christianist SCOTUS member, who was hand picked by Leonard Leo and who wants to push the "religious freedom” of Christianism on all US citizens. For the sake of two small minorities, oligarchs and Christianist evangelicals, some SCOTUS members are aiding and abetting the replacement of our democratic republic with a theocratic oligarchy.
"Please stop abusing your powers over justice to unjustly impose authoritarian Christianism on anyone. Please stop protecting and empowering anti-democratic oligarchs who buy our politicians who then control the appointment our federal justices."
Let SCOTUS know what you think about their anti-democratic rulings - share what Thom wrote here:
The morbidly rich used their powers of corporate personhood to arrange for menu-driven neo-theocons to get appointed to the Court, and these oligarchs and billionaires are not going to let their Congressional toadies make any regulations that would get in the way of their big grift. This is kind of a Gordian Catch-22 in that after our SCOTUS made a few legal fictions come true over the years, the plutocrats were given the power to install enough public sector decision-makers in our government to perpetuate their control over our government. So our Congress, which has the responsibility of overseeing our SCOTUS, has been told (by those who control their decisions) to put their faux-Christian grifters on the high court to make even more horrible decisions that are entirely adverse to their Constitutional purpose found in the Preamble.
We are so worried about this Country ‘becoming Authoritarian after this election.’
I suggest we’re ‘already there.’
In regards to the Supreme Court that is their mode and has been now since the Bush v Gore election , where they arbitrarily elevated Bush over Gore, though by every count Gore lead Bush.
They’ve continued along this biased run to the present.
They are said to be ‘Conservative ‘.
No, they are not simply conservative, they are severely Conservative and emboldened by Trumps followers and their very own designation of Corporations deemed to be persons.
Allowing extremes of money to be landing in Republican coffers, used from there as reason to continue to suck more money into their organization with blanket cover of the courts.
Was America born into this tawdry arrangement?
No . It was precisely this behavior, of the wealthiest ruling the day, that the Constitution was based on, non allowance of the class system in America . They had fled the European stranglehold on the class system.
There are many examples of the Extreme Court in the U S where any chance at equality has been decimated by the Court.
Over and over again , more blatantly every year. And with their elimination of 50 yrs of precedent in Roe v Wade their authoritarian actions have begun to rot the rights of Americans .
It doesn’t take a brilliant
mind to figure this out is wrong and frankly peutrid.
We are a Country of separation of Church and State. That of course is no longer true.
Many of these justices have lied about their primary allegiance to their
The Court proceedings should be televised on C-Span. It would be great for accountability, and it would be educational. I don't get the big hang-up on this issue, since the oral arguments are on their website anyway along with the transcripts. They live very public lives and are seated front and center for each State of the Union. In this day and age, every court case in the land should be video recorded and made available to the public. Relying on a court reporter seems very dated.
It is going to be interesting and terrifying to see how far they will take their election interference. Congress will act, but in what way?
The Court already crowned one king. At the time in 2000, people thought it couldn't get any more appalling than this. WRONG!
Continue : Christian religion over the the rights of Americans to be free of Religious Rule.
We must vote every time against these Fascists who pretend to be appointed to these offices .
As well the Republicans who are pretty seriously invested in these wrong decisions.
They are wrong for America. Thats not who we are.
They’ll tell you its freedom
Thats a lie. Theyll tell you Trump should have been president again. Thats a lie. He was one of the single most divisive presidents ever, who encouraged violence as an every day problem solver.
We don’t have to live this way. We must vote them out.
Thom's first sentence says it all. In fact, I'd like to boil off a bit more of the sauce. Why hasn't the US congress done their job since bribery was legalized? I think we know.
While I appreciate Thom's brilliant article, it's pointless to discuss anything until we make bribery illegal again. They will all smile and frown on cue, while looking down. Nope, these septuagenarians aren't looking at their iPhones, they are counting the Rubles in the envelopes.
Moore v. Harper is merely that last nail in the Republican Party's coffin for democracy. Yes, the case is "...antithetical to the Framers' intent," as Judge Luttig says: the vote of the people should decide the presidency, not state legislatures. But the "Framers' intent" had nothing to do with democracy. The vote of the people was limited at the time to those who were male, white, free, over 21, and most importantly, owners of property: "freeholders" was James Madison's word. This amounted to 2.5% of the population, a crypto-nobility. The Framers' thought this right and proper, unequivocally and unanimously. Popular democracy to them was unthinkable.
Not until 1971 was the last of the restrictive voter qualifications removed, and universal suffrage attained. It took almost 200 years to overcome the "Framers' intent." We built a popular democracy in spite of the Framers' intent, not because of it.
Within a decade of this noble achievement--beginning in the Reagan Administration--the Republican Party undertook its destruction. (Outlined in detail here: https://www.commondreams.org/views/2022/10/19/democracy-defenseless-and-midterms-can-kill-it) Moore v. Harper is just the final stroke.
Yes, SCOTUS should by no means authorize Independent State Legislature theory, but far more important is the defeat of the Republican Party in the midterm election. "Vote early and vote often!!"
Who would have thought, before Trump, that our electorate is so weighted with people who would vote against their own interests? What a revelation Trump has been. And, we aren't dealing with the wealth inequality that's causal to this, where so many people are so pissed off that they'll vote for what's outside the system they are in. We stay on the surface trying to keep our democracy, where what to do about the underlying causes that most threaten it should be front and center.
SCOTUS Protects and Empowers Two Small Minorities: Oligarchs & Christianist Evangelicals
I shared the following with the SCOTUS Public Information Office:
"I have little respect for any Christianist SCOTUS member, who was hand picked by Leonard Leo and who wants to push the "religious freedom” of Christianism on all US citizens. For the sake of two small minorities, oligarchs and Christianist evangelicals, some SCOTUS members are aiding and abetting the replacement of our democratic republic with a theocratic oligarchy.
"Please stop abusing your powers over justice to unjustly impose authoritarian Christianism on anyone. Please stop protecting and empowering anti-democratic oligarchs who buy our politicians who then control the appointment our federal justices."
Let SCOTUS know what you think about their anti-democratic rulings - share what Thom wrote here:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/contact/contact_pio.aspx
The GOP is engaged in a "War on Voting." "War on Voting" is a short, catchy, and accurate way to tell what the GOP is up to.
The morbidly rich used their powers of corporate personhood to arrange for menu-driven neo-theocons to get appointed to the Court, and these oligarchs and billionaires are not going to let their Congressional toadies make any regulations that would get in the way of their big grift. This is kind of a Gordian Catch-22 in that after our SCOTUS made a few legal fictions come true over the years, the plutocrats were given the power to install enough public sector decision-makers in our government to perpetuate their control over our government. So our Congress, which has the responsibility of overseeing our SCOTUS, has been told (by those who control their decisions) to put their faux-Christian grifters on the high court to make even more horrible decisions that are entirely adverse to their Constitutional purpose found in the Preamble.
Apparently, the head of lettuce won!
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/liz-truss-resigns-uk-prime-minister_n_6351033ee4b04cf8f37ffc7e
We are so worried about this Country ‘becoming Authoritarian after this election.’
I suggest we’re ‘already there.’
In regards to the Supreme Court that is their mode and has been now since the Bush v Gore election , where they arbitrarily elevated Bush over Gore, though by every count Gore lead Bush.
They’ve continued along this biased run to the present.
They are said to be ‘Conservative ‘.
No, they are not simply conservative, they are severely Conservative and emboldened by Trumps followers and their very own designation of Corporations deemed to be persons.
Allowing extremes of money to be landing in Republican coffers, used from there as reason to continue to suck more money into their organization with blanket cover of the courts.
Was America born into this tawdry arrangement?
No . It was precisely this behavior, of the wealthiest ruling the day, that the Constitution was based on, non allowance of the class system in America . They had fled the European stranglehold on the class system.
There are many examples of the Extreme Court in the U S where any chance at equality has been decimated by the Court.
Over and over again , more blatantly every year. And with their elimination of 50 yrs of precedent in Roe v Wade their authoritarian actions have begun to rot the rights of Americans .
It doesn’t take a brilliant
mind to figure this out is wrong and frankly peutrid.
We are a Country of separation of Church and State. That of course is no longer true.
Many of these justices have lied about their primary allegiance to their
The Court proceedings should be televised on C-Span. It would be great for accountability, and it would be educational. I don't get the big hang-up on this issue, since the oral arguments are on their website anyway along with the transcripts. They live very public lives and are seated front and center for each State of the Union. In this day and age, every court case in the land should be video recorded and made available to the public. Relying on a court reporter seems very dated.
It is going to be interesting and terrifying to see how far they will take their election interference. Congress will act, but in what way?
The Court already crowned one king. At the time in 2000, people thought it couldn't get any more appalling than this. WRONG!
It feels like republicans have put a noose around Democracy and are tightening it till it’s strangled to death. Horrific
“The Trumpiest Federal Appeals Court Did Something Truly Beyond the Pale.”
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/10/trumpiest-federal-appeals-court-kills-cfpb-fifth-circuit.html
Continue : Christian religion over the the rights of Americans to be free of Religious Rule.
We must vote every time against these Fascists who pretend to be appointed to these offices .
As well the Republicans who are pretty seriously invested in these wrong decisions.
They are wrong for America. Thats not who we are.
They’ll tell you its freedom
Thats a lie. Theyll tell you Trump should have been president again. Thats a lie. He was one of the single most divisive presidents ever, who encouraged violence as an every day problem solver.
We don’t have to live this way. We must vote them out.
Thom's first sentence says it all. In fact, I'd like to boil off a bit more of the sauce. Why hasn't the US congress done their job since bribery was legalized? I think we know.
While I appreciate Thom's brilliant article, it's pointless to discuss anything until we make bribery illegal again. They will all smile and frown on cue, while looking down. Nope, these septuagenarians aren't looking at their iPhones, they are counting the Rubles in the envelopes.