In Title 42, Gorsuch plays the little boy who declared the emperor was wearing no clothes. Now, if only he’ll be consistent in applying his new understanding of the Court beyond just immigration...
Thom, I bought your book on the Supreme Court and have been reading it. This was after they overturned Roe v Wade and I was trying to understand their processes - and just how they could completely ignore precedence and how many times that decision had been upheld. The more I read about the Court as nd especially how they have no “gatekeeper” - as do our other branches of govt. Madison (I believe) called it “despotic” and questioned its existence at all. For Gorsuch to blithely say “the Court doesn’t make policy” - well, that would almost be hilarious, if it weren’t so completely absurd and a downright lie. I’d say, just say FIRST and foremost, if Citizens United isn’t policy for all our oligarchs and greedy politicians (and an urging for the Koch family to set up their network to CHOOSE their politicians and therefore which party shall dominate Congress) then, boy, I don’t know “policy” at all. The Supremes have made voting much harder by their picking and choosing of the laws in the Civil Rights bill passed by Congress & signed by President Johnson - that’s not policy-making, it is most definitely legislating! I don’t even see ANY need fit this Court anymore. The first mistake made in forming it was to call it “Supreme”
The Supreme Court was originally modeled on the Iroquois Nation's (Haudenosaunee Confederacy) structure of Tribal government. The Clan mothers were essentially the Supreme Court that over-rode the Chiefs (executive branch) and other Clan/Tribal leaders (the House of Representatives/Senate). The Clan Mothers (and many were the mothers of the Chiefs and other leaders) would step in and rule, but more often negotiate when the men (essentially) overstepped their power and infringed on other's rights. The Seal for the US actually has the eagle holding 11 (I think) arrows that represented the 11 major tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. If only our US Supreme Court had maintained it's original purpose; to slap the hands of Jr. when he got out of line!
Thom - I love your work - and really wish you would not make statements like - "Now the pandemic crisis is largely over".
It isn't remotely over. I suggest you peruse this latest post by Katelyn Jetelina. In China, COVID is wildly out of control. Further, China is not reporting any genomic information, so there is no way to track variant evolution from the largest country in the world. It is a ticking bomb simply waiting for the right mutation.
It has been a very long time since I was in high school (1950's) and decades since I took Political Science classes in college (1960's and 70's) but I am certain that I heard that phrase "co-equal branches of government" a lot and have always believed that the Supreme Court was meant to have great power as the court of last resort. So much for civics classes. What else did they get wrong? I do not believe I was unique in having learned the bare minimum (mostly as a matter of disconnected memorized data), most of which was forgotten hours after the test. Thom is the best teacher one could ask for. But high school isn't the best place for this kind of learning, and students must have a personal interest and recognize their own personal stake in accurate information and grounded, connected knowledge accruing for their own purposes within a milieu free of competition, coercion, excessive evaluation, and false expectation. Now, how will millions of people get the message and learn that John Roberts is not a king or a deity, either? School's out.
Justice Gorsuch is one to watch. He has an interesting background. Despite a very Catholic education, after he married, he switched to an Episcopal church. Nope to a pope.
I wondered what it must have felt like to get the stolen seat on the Court, thinking it had to take the shine off such a prize. I think this line from WIKI may answer some of that: "It was reported by the Associated Press that, as a courtesy, Gorsuch's first call after the nomination was to President Obama's pick for the same position, Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."
Their life-paths may cross once again if AG Garland decides prosecute the former president.
Another great history lesson and myth-busted by Thom..
Black-robed priests and priestess issuing religious edicts from on high, legislating from the bench, openly taking bribes from wealthy authoritarian bigots, laughing in our faces -- fascism at its finest in good-old-boy Meerkkka.
Thom, I bought your book on the Supreme Court and have been reading it. This was after they overturned Roe v Wade and I was trying to understand their processes - and just how they could completely ignore precedence and how many times that decision had been upheld. The more I read about the Court as nd especially how they have no “gatekeeper” - as do our other branches of govt. Madison (I believe) called it “despotic” and questioned its existence at all. For Gorsuch to blithely say “the Court doesn’t make policy” - well, that would almost be hilarious, if it weren’t so completely absurd and a downright lie. I’d say, just say FIRST and foremost, if Citizens United isn’t policy for all our oligarchs and greedy politicians (and an urging for the Koch family to set up their network to CHOOSE their politicians and therefore which party shall dominate Congress) then, boy, I don’t know “policy” at all. The Supremes have made voting much harder by their picking and choosing of the laws in the Civil Rights bill passed by Congress & signed by President Johnson - that’s not policy-making, it is most definitely legislating! I don’t even see ANY need fit this Court anymore. The first mistake made in forming it was to call it “Supreme”
Too many fragile egos there to contain that term.
The Supreme Court was originally modeled on the Iroquois Nation's (Haudenosaunee Confederacy) structure of Tribal government. The Clan mothers were essentially the Supreme Court that over-rode the Chiefs (executive branch) and other Clan/Tribal leaders (the House of Representatives/Senate). The Clan Mothers (and many were the mothers of the Chiefs and other leaders) would step in and rule, but more often negotiate when the men (essentially) overstepped their power and infringed on other's rights. The Seal for the US actually has the eagle holding 11 (I think) arrows that represented the 11 major tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. If only our US Supreme Court had maintained it's original purpose; to slap the hands of Jr. when he got out of line!
Thom - I love your work - and really wish you would not make statements like - "Now the pandemic crisis is largely over".
It isn't remotely over. I suggest you peruse this latest post by Katelyn Jetelina. In China, COVID is wildly out of control. Further, China is not reporting any genomic information, so there is no way to track variant evolution from the largest country in the world. It is a ticking bomb simply waiting for the right mutation.
https://open.substack.com/pub/yourlocalepidemiologist/p/covid-in-china-the-us-and-everything?r=5pz0z&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Ted
Edward R. Fahy, MD FAAP (Pediatrician)
“We are a court of law,
not policymakers of last resort.”
.
when it's convenient
"Republicans" will do
the Right Thing but to
look for Ethical behavior
in the morally-challenged
is like asking an Elephant to
walk thru the eye of a needle.
It has been a very long time since I was in high school (1950's) and decades since I took Political Science classes in college (1960's and 70's) but I am certain that I heard that phrase "co-equal branches of government" a lot and have always believed that the Supreme Court was meant to have great power as the court of last resort. So much for civics classes. What else did they get wrong? I do not believe I was unique in having learned the bare minimum (mostly as a matter of disconnected memorized data), most of which was forgotten hours after the test. Thom is the best teacher one could ask for. But high school isn't the best place for this kind of learning, and students must have a personal interest and recognize their own personal stake in accurate information and grounded, connected knowledge accruing for their own purposes within a milieu free of competition, coercion, excessive evaluation, and false expectation. Now, how will millions of people get the message and learn that John Roberts is not a king or a deity, either? School's out.
Justice Gorsuch is one to watch. He has an interesting background. Despite a very Catholic education, after he married, he switched to an Episcopal church. Nope to a pope.
I wondered what it must have felt like to get the stolen seat on the Court, thinking it had to take the shine off such a prize. I think this line from WIKI may answer some of that: "It was reported by the Associated Press that, as a courtesy, Gorsuch's first call after the nomination was to President Obama's pick for the same position, Merrick Garland, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit."
Their life-paths may cross once again if AG Garland decides prosecute the former president.
Another great history lesson and myth-busted by Thom..
THOM,
You refer to one of the Justices as "Johnson", I believe she is Katenji Brown-Jackson'
Black-robed priests and priestess issuing religious edicts from on high, legislating from the bench, openly taking bribes from wealthy authoritarian bigots, laughing in our faces -- fascism at its finest in good-old-boy Meerkkka.