The simple reality is that conservatives throughout modern history have viewed democracy with a jaundiced eye, and the Supreme Court’s Republican appointees are no exception...
Yes, unquestionably. The Koch Gang (they call themselves a “cadre”) has been plotting to overthrow this democracy since the days of Nixon. Nancy MacLean’s book, “Democracy in Chains” spells out “Libertarian” fascism. The Billionaire Puppet Masters have installed traitorous puppets at every level of government, including in the SCOTUS. Let’s face it: This country has not addressed TREASON. We have traitors installing puppets at every level of government. The RNC has become an organized crime syndicate funded and run by these traitorous, Billionaire Fascists who want to overthrow this democracy. The so-called “Federalist” SCOTUS judges are TRAITORS, and yet, today, we cower as Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh threaten to wipe out our democracy with a ludicrous hearing. They are, in fact, delaying and denying justice, threatening the Constitution and the idea of peaceful transfer of power. They are aiding and abetting the Traitor Trump—who is a serial criminal, dedicated to the overthrow of this democracy.
Traitors need to be hanged. Not coddled. Not pardoned. Not given the benefit of doubt from fascist authoritarian judges. Hanged.
I'm not alone. I've been writing about this all morning. Restating my comment on Joyce Vance's Substack as to whether they will grant Trump limited immunity. Same to Heather Cox Richardson, who quoted Mark Elias. Same on Robert Reich, The Supreme Court's Farce and Ruse, etc.
Limited immunity. I'm not sure whether this was argued at t he DC level so by rights should have been waived. As Robert Hubbell is saying: "The hearing itself was a supreme outrage. While the reactionary majority may not adopt the most extreme version of Trump’s defense, they need not do so to grant Trump a victory. Indeed, they have already granted Trump most of what he asked for: a lengthy delay." Ian Millheiser says Republican justices, engaged in dizzying feats of reverse logic. https://www.vox.com/scotus/24140309/supreme-court-donald-trump-immunity-jack-smith
Someone mentioned "scope and course" of employment. IMHO there are probably mixed questions of law and fact. Could be a jury question. This is the kind of stuff that comes up in civil law and workers' comp all the time. "Personal" matters like trying to subvert the will of the people.
Consider the concepts of frolic and detour. Generally, a “detour” constitutes a minor departure from an employee's duties but is still considered acting within the scope of employment, whereas a “frolic” would be a major departure from the scope of employment undertaken for that employee's own benefit. I think Trump blew it by failing to address it at the DC level.
But anything goes at SCOTUS.
______
All we can do is vote them out. We have the capacity to sweep. Potentially 13 million unregistered people trend heavily Democratic. FT6 uses data mining to identify them. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register and are eager to hear from us. .
SUPREME CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Track the many ethical concerns Clarence Thomas ignored by ruling on the Jan 6th Insurrection case that his wife, Ginnie attended
When Garland failed to immediately prosecute the leaders of the insurrection I knew something bad was going to happen! For years I have criticized Biden for not firing Garland and I get very little support from fellow Democrats. Donald has Garland in his pocket.
I predict the Supreme Court will not make any decisions on this case before the election. They do not want Biden to have permission to send seal team six to get rid of the dONALD and them!
There is no point building a wall now unless we want to trap ourselves inside. Mexico will have to build it to keep Americans out! All because those real men those white male Christian heterosexuals fell in love with Donald! They need a daddy the older they are the more they need their daddy! Big insane babies never grew up!
Our only hope now is if Donald keeps eating more McDonald's meals. Only with a mega advertising blitz may we get through the thick skulls of the religious closed minds. We must vote Biden and hope a new younger Democrat will come along, IF they don't end up like Al Franken. Overcoming RFK and voter purging will not be easy!
Some of the participants of the "spectacle" seem confused as well. They know this immunity stance has to be morally wrong. I wish the Republican Justices buying this bull-shit knew just how stupid that makes them look, since "Equal Justice Under Law" is carved into their workplace.
Well it's that lie down with dogs/fleas thing. Everything is a transaction to TFG, and he is going to expect Coney-Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh to pay him back. Neil and Brett he can count on, but Amy? She already sounds like she may not like scratching his back or dealing with "fleas".
What late Friday night will they be dumping all these decisions on us, while they run for the hills? And speaking of looking stupid, think of how we must look to other democracies. On the other hand, it may also cause them to look at just how clear their laws are about this immunity nonsense.
"Kirk’s solution, dictated back in the late 1700s by Burke himself, was to gut the middle class and return to the “normal” social form of a small number of really rich people at the top, a tiny middle class of doctors, lawyers, and professionals who served the rich, and a massive class of the working poor."
This theme of class and resultant inferiority permeates the history of the United States. In particular, I am reminded of the words of your "founding father," George Washington. In a conversation with British actor John Bernard, pertinent to fighting for freedom while holding slaves, Daddy Washington stated: “This may seem a contradiction, but it is neither a crime nor an absurdity. When we profess, as our fundamental principle, that liberty is the inalienable right of every man, we do not include madmen or idiots; liberty in their hands would become a scourge."
Ergo, the United States does not evolve (though such an illusion is presented, at times), it revolves. And now, devolves. Starkly manifested in the reality of the subject matter presented in this most excellent work.
In a Fascist state, all instruments of power are controlled by a small minority, just as is the current condition of these once United States. Thank you, to one and all, for the brilliant comments here and Thom's tireless work on behalf of all of us. I knew we were in the throws of an ongoing coup when gutless anti-American Meritless Garlic refused to arrest and incarcerate the coup leader the moment he left public office, and then waited nearly 2 yrs. to appoint a Special Prosecutor to prosecute those responsible for the attempted coup that very nearly overthrew our democratically elected government. It is still my opinion.
To paraphrase the quote from often incorrectly attributed to Thomas Paine; “The last king should be strangled with the guts of the last priest.” Regardless, the quote clearly shows today’s present irony of a SCOTUS comprised of Catholic fundamentalist, court that meshes together a state church with Capitalist oligarchy behind a curtain of contorted logic and lies to support a Fascist clown Dictator as divine right ruler.
The very thing the Founders thought they had so deftly left behind to create a new and better society.
“Gutting the middle class, eliminating the social safety net, and “restoring order” to society is still
the conservative mantra, now heavily overlaid with racist tropes and rightwing Christian
ideology.”
I would put the right-wing Christian ideology and racist tropes and the authoritarian impulse at the forefront and portray the gutting of the middle class, elimination of the social safety net, and “restoring order”, along with promoting oligarchy as being overlaid on those more fundamental belief systems instead of the other way around. I believe that the focus has to be on the widespread influence of these reactionary concepts among the people and the unconscious bias in that direction to stop the steamroller that is crushing democracy. Until we see how ignorance and fear and backward thinking are perpetuated by our institutions, we will continue to slide backward.
It isn’t enough to do all we can to make sure that Biden wins the election. The MAGA men on the Supreme Court have stated that they make the rules - when they get around to doing it. There is a grave danger that they feel that it is their duty to select the president that America needs.
Before the election we have to make it clear that we do not trust them and that they have lost the legitimacy to shape American life. To make this clear to them, I urge all of you to join me in another hopeless task: write to your Congressperson and demand that they draw up Articles of Impeachment for all of the male justices on the court. Sure, there is less than a .001 chance that Speaker Johnson will let the bill be heard. Still if enough congress people sign on, the court will know that if the Dems get a majority it could happen to them, and there will be much more evidence than either of the impeachment hearings the Republicans had during their session. These men are complicit in Trump’s crimes. They should be impeached and convicted for corruption and abuse of power. They are not immune. (Please excuse the cross-post).
Money and power corrupt the mind. That is well known. The United States is sinking farther into the mire they have created with money and power. Their plans to be the world's only hegemony are failing like dominoes in the wind. Lots of highly educated people around the world outside of the United States are predicting a fall. The American dollar is predicted to be dedollarized soon as the world moves away from using American dollars to trade with. Once countries stop investing in U.S. bonds, the U.S. economy will disintegrate like a house of cards in a breeze. The debt load is too high and, despite Biden's attempts to bring it down, will choke the U.S. and bring it down.
Now, we have peaceful protestors being arrested, reminiscent of the Vietnam War days and civil rights movements from the 1960's. These are signs of the end, unless a radical shakeup of U.S. government institutions are initiated soon, as within the next couple of years. If things are allowed to continue as they are, we will be witness to the fall of the American Empire by the end of this decade, so they predict. It doesn't matter who is president at this point, changes in how the U.S. does things around the world need to happen, if the U.S. hopes to save itself from collapse.
And then there were two. Two branches of gov't, that is.
The judicial branch has up and hyper-extended our suspension of disbelief till it snapped. And like Elvis they are simply no longer in the building . . . nor should anyone, for one jot, believe that they are a 100% ethical entity worthy of citizens' trust.
These begowned, Republican hacks are merely pathetic, ego-driven, utterly self-serving, Trumpian puppets who are deep in his hip pocket.
And there they will stay, tantamount to a bulging, overflowing pocket full of anti-American miracles. Get-Outta-Jail justices who do not get the law
They are operatives, not unlike those who assisted Adolph in 1932.
"Is SCOTUS in on the Coup and Trying to End American Democracy?"
Yes. They were specifically chosen over the past couple of decades, by Republicans, driven by the Federalist Society, to do just that.
Yes, unquestionably. The Koch Gang (they call themselves a “cadre”) has been plotting to overthrow this democracy since the days of Nixon. Nancy MacLean’s book, “Democracy in Chains” spells out “Libertarian” fascism. The Billionaire Puppet Masters have installed traitorous puppets at every level of government, including in the SCOTUS. Let’s face it: This country has not addressed TREASON. We have traitors installing puppets at every level of government. The RNC has become an organized crime syndicate funded and run by these traitorous, Billionaire Fascists who want to overthrow this democracy. The so-called “Federalist” SCOTUS judges are TRAITORS, and yet, today, we cower as Alito, Thomas, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh threaten to wipe out our democracy with a ludicrous hearing. They are, in fact, delaying and denying justice, threatening the Constitution and the idea of peaceful transfer of power. They are aiding and abetting the Traitor Trump—who is a serial criminal, dedicated to the overthrow of this democracy.
Traitors need to be hanged. Not coddled. Not pardoned. Not given the benefit of doubt from fascist authoritarian judges. Hanged.
"Is SCOTUS in on the Coup and Trying to End American Democracy?"
Yes. They were specifically chosen to do just that.
I think they're traitors, Thom.
I'm not alone. I've been writing about this all morning. Restating my comment on Joyce Vance's Substack as to whether they will grant Trump limited immunity. Same to Heather Cox Richardson, who quoted Mark Elias. Same on Robert Reich, The Supreme Court's Farce and Ruse, etc.
Limited immunity. I'm not sure whether this was argued at t he DC level so by rights should have been waived. As Robert Hubbell is saying: "The hearing itself was a supreme outrage. While the reactionary majority may not adopt the most extreme version of Trump’s defense, they need not do so to grant Trump a victory. Indeed, they have already granted Trump most of what he asked for: a lengthy delay." Ian Millheiser says Republican justices, engaged in dizzying feats of reverse logic. https://www.vox.com/scotus/24140309/supreme-court-donald-trump-immunity-jack-smith
Someone mentioned "scope and course" of employment. IMHO there are probably mixed questions of law and fact. Could be a jury question. This is the kind of stuff that comes up in civil law and workers' comp all the time. "Personal" matters like trying to subvert the will of the people.
Consider the concepts of frolic and detour. Generally, a “detour” constitutes a minor departure from an employee's duties but is still considered acting within the scope of employment, whereas a “frolic” would be a major departure from the scope of employment undertaken for that employee's own benefit. I think Trump blew it by failing to address it at the DC level.
But anything goes at SCOTUS.
______
All we can do is vote them out. We have the capacity to sweep. Potentially 13 million unregistered people trend heavily Democratic. FT6 uses data mining to identify them. 60% of unregistered voters have never been asked to register and are eager to hear from us. .
https://www.fieldteam6.org/actions
SUPREME PAYBACK: How many of the Supreme Court Justices who made Bush president are now helping Trump's campaign? Check this interactive map.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/04/25/justicecantwait-dont-let-the-supreme-court-shield-trump-from-accountability/
SUPREME CONFLICTS OF INTEREST. Track the many ethical concerns Clarence Thomas ignored by ruling on the Jan 6th Insurrection case that his wife, Ginnie attended
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/04/16/clarence-thomas-conflict-of-interest-map-on-jan-6th-insurrection-that-his-wife-attended/
When Garland failed to immediately prosecute the leaders of the insurrection I knew something bad was going to happen! For years I have criticized Biden for not firing Garland and I get very little support from fellow Democrats. Donald has Garland in his pocket.
I predict the Supreme Court will not make any decisions on this case before the election. They do not want Biden to have permission to send seal team six to get rid of the dONALD and them!
There is no point building a wall now unless we want to trap ourselves inside. Mexico will have to build it to keep Americans out! All because those real men those white male Christian heterosexuals fell in love with Donald! They need a daddy the older they are the more they need their daddy! Big insane babies never grew up!
Our only hope now is if Donald keeps eating more McDonald's meals. Only with a mega advertising blitz may we get through the thick skulls of the religious closed minds. We must vote Biden and hope a new younger Democrat will come along, IF they don't end up like Al Franken. Overcoming RFK and voter purging will not be easy!
Some of the participants of the "spectacle" seem confused as well. They know this immunity stance has to be morally wrong. I wish the Republican Justices buying this bull-shit knew just how stupid that makes them look, since "Equal Justice Under Law" is carved into their workplace.
Well it's that lie down with dogs/fleas thing. Everything is a transaction to TFG, and he is going to expect Coney-Barrett, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh to pay him back. Neil and Brett he can count on, but Amy? She already sounds like she may not like scratching his back or dealing with "fleas".
What late Friday night will they be dumping all these decisions on us, while they run for the hills? And speaking of looking stupid, think of how we must look to other democracies. On the other hand, it may also cause them to look at just how clear their laws are about this immunity nonsense.
Listening to and reading the Red Party's illegitimate, corrupted SCOTUS BS yesterday turned my stomach.
Vote Blue, up and down ballot. It's our last grasp/gasp for continuation of our liberal democratic order.
Not just expand the court. Impeach justices like Thomas, who have taken bribes (they are bribes, not gifts) and/or have conflicts of interest.
"Kirk’s solution, dictated back in the late 1700s by Burke himself, was to gut the middle class and return to the “normal” social form of a small number of really rich people at the top, a tiny middle class of doctors, lawyers, and professionals who served the rich, and a massive class of the working poor."
This theme of class and resultant inferiority permeates the history of the United States. In particular, I am reminded of the words of your "founding father," George Washington. In a conversation with British actor John Bernard, pertinent to fighting for freedom while holding slaves, Daddy Washington stated: “This may seem a contradiction, but it is neither a crime nor an absurdity. When we profess, as our fundamental principle, that liberty is the inalienable right of every man, we do not include madmen or idiots; liberty in their hands would become a scourge."
Ergo, the United States does not evolve (though such an illusion is presented, at times), it revolves. And now, devolves. Starkly manifested in the reality of the subject matter presented in this most excellent work.
In a Fascist state, all instruments of power are controlled by a small minority, just as is the current condition of these once United States. Thank you, to one and all, for the brilliant comments here and Thom's tireless work on behalf of all of us. I knew we were in the throws of an ongoing coup when gutless anti-American Meritless Garlic refused to arrest and incarcerate the coup leader the moment he left public office, and then waited nearly 2 yrs. to appoint a Special Prosecutor to prosecute those responsible for the attempted coup that very nearly overthrew our democratically elected government. It is still my opinion.
To paraphrase the quote from often incorrectly attributed to Thomas Paine; “The last king should be strangled with the guts of the last priest.” Regardless, the quote clearly shows today’s present irony of a SCOTUS comprised of Catholic fundamentalist, court that meshes together a state church with Capitalist oligarchy behind a curtain of contorted logic and lies to support a Fascist clown Dictator as divine right ruler.
The very thing the Founders thought they had so deftly left behind to create a new and better society.
“Gutting the middle class, eliminating the social safety net, and “restoring order” to society is still
the conservative mantra, now heavily overlaid with racist tropes and rightwing Christian
ideology.”
I would put the right-wing Christian ideology and racist tropes and the authoritarian impulse at the forefront and portray the gutting of the middle class, elimination of the social safety net, and “restoring order”, along with promoting oligarchy as being overlaid on those more fundamental belief systems instead of the other way around. I believe that the focus has to be on the widespread influence of these reactionary concepts among the people and the unconscious bias in that direction to stop the steamroller that is crushing democracy. Until we see how ignorance and fear and backward thinking are perpetuated by our institutions, we will continue to slide backward.
It isn’t enough to do all we can to make sure that Biden wins the election. The MAGA men on the Supreme Court have stated that they make the rules - when they get around to doing it. There is a grave danger that they feel that it is their duty to select the president that America needs.
Before the election we have to make it clear that we do not trust them and that they have lost the legitimacy to shape American life. To make this clear to them, I urge all of you to join me in another hopeless task: write to your Congressperson and demand that they draw up Articles of Impeachment for all of the male justices on the court. Sure, there is less than a .001 chance that Speaker Johnson will let the bill be heard. Still if enough congress people sign on, the court will know that if the Dems get a majority it could happen to them, and there will be much more evidence than either of the impeachment hearings the Republicans had during their session. These men are complicit in Trump’s crimes. They should be impeached and convicted for corruption and abuse of power. They are not immune. (Please excuse the cross-post).
Money and power corrupt the mind. That is well known. The United States is sinking farther into the mire they have created with money and power. Their plans to be the world's only hegemony are failing like dominoes in the wind. Lots of highly educated people around the world outside of the United States are predicting a fall. The American dollar is predicted to be dedollarized soon as the world moves away from using American dollars to trade with. Once countries stop investing in U.S. bonds, the U.S. economy will disintegrate like a house of cards in a breeze. The debt load is too high and, despite Biden's attempts to bring it down, will choke the U.S. and bring it down.
Now, we have peaceful protestors being arrested, reminiscent of the Vietnam War days and civil rights movements from the 1960's. These are signs of the end, unless a radical shakeup of U.S. government institutions are initiated soon, as within the next couple of years. If things are allowed to continue as they are, we will be witness to the fall of the American Empire by the end of this decade, so they predict. It doesn't matter who is president at this point, changes in how the U.S. does things around the world need to happen, if the U.S. hopes to save itself from collapse.
And then there were two. Two branches of gov't, that is.
The judicial branch has up and hyper-extended our suspension of disbelief till it snapped. And like Elvis they are simply no longer in the building . . . nor should anyone, for one jot, believe that they are a 100% ethical entity worthy of citizens' trust.
These begowned, Republican hacks are merely pathetic, ego-driven, utterly self-serving, Trumpian puppets who are deep in his hip pocket.
And there they will stay, tantamount to a bulging, overflowing pocket full of anti-American miracles. Get-Outta-Jail justices who do not get the law
They are operatives, not unlike those who assisted Adolph in 1932.