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| Clay Bennett |
When I started this blog in January, 2017, I wanted to chronicle the chaotic times which I knew that the T**** years would be. I thought maybe someday my grandchildren would be able to get a version of a history lesson when they would read my words and my thoughts on each day's events. Though it got worse and worse, I kept up the hope and the faith that our democracy would survive. It did for a bit, with Joe Biden's election.
Now, though, I feel that LSR is chronicling the end of America. She is dying.
Remember in my last post where I said watching Biden's awful debate performance was like watching our Great Experiment die?
Well, today we are preparing her grave.
The Supremely Corrupt Court of the United States has again made shit up. Without any legal standing or Constitutional justification, they continued their march through the boneyard of our democracy. This time, they took our 248-year Rule of Law, the very basis of our form of government, and officially made a King of DJT.
Read the decision here.
This decision is blatantly unconstitutional. Remember the oath of office that each president must utter? The words are spelled out in the Constitution:
Article II, Section 1, Clause 8:
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:–I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Any violation of the law is going against this very oath. No one can give the president the power to break the law with impunity. He has sworn to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States: the document of laws. It can't be both ways.
The Supreme Court has more than "weaponized" the Department of Justice. They have literally weaponized the presidency.
This goes against everything we believe in.
No one can express our outrage better than Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan, who wrote in her dissent:
“A President’s use of any official power for any purpose, even the most corrupt, is immune from prosecution. That is just as bad as it sounds. ... In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law. ... Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.""With fear for our democracy, I dissent."
Make no mistake. This is not hyperbole. Our democracy is under attack.
Gone is the refrain, "No one is above the law." It's gone. Poof. Just like that, the former president can do whatever he wants, with immunity.
Gone is Thomas Paine's warning in 1776, writing in Common Sense: "Where…is the King of America? I’ll tell you Friend…so far as we approve of monarchy…in America the law is king. For as in absolute governments the King is law, so in free countries the law ought to be King; and there ought to be no other."
Gone is our modern common sense, verified by several judges making the decision before SCOTUS took it up that, "DUH! The president is not above the law!"
Gone are checks and balances that the Supreme Court was supposed to be. Now, they are blatantly acting on behalf of Trump, but more than that, on behalf of a very dark right-wing ideology. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
You may have had thoughts like I did that, "Well, the president may have immunity from prosecution, but military members are required not to follow illegal orders, and besides that any underling could be still be prosecuted." Did we forget that the president also has the power of pardon? No one below him who actually commits "official" acts on his behalf will be punished either.
The January 6 Case
This specific case considers the January 6 charges against the 45th president of the United States, which was the precipitating case that brought about this decision. In their decision, SCOTUS sent it back to the trial judge, Judge Tanya Chutkin. Judge Chutkin will "decide" which acts are official and which are personal. I put decide in quotes because what she will do is just busywork. Once she makes her ruling that a certain act is personal, and not official, what happens? Why, it goes up the appeals chain again, straight back to "his" Supreme Court to decide. And how do you think they'll decide which is a personal act and not official (hint: it's not stiffing the local Domino's for the 10 pizzas they delivered to the Oval Office)?
Judge Chutkin should just save everyone time and cut to the chase. Yanno, Judge, just deem them all personal, so that SCOTUS can wreak their havoc all on their own. They are going to do it anyway.
The Problem is This.
Here's the problem, my sister and brother resisters. Though they are in name giving any president this unlimited power and immunity from committing illegal acts, the reality is, it is only to protect and serve one guy. That is the evil guy.
There have been calls for Dark Brandon to come out with guns blazing. To borrow from Duke and Debbi in Repo Man, "Let's do do some crimes!" "Yeah. Let's go order Seal Team 6 and not pay!"
First of all, Joe Biden is a principled, moral man. He would not go there. But further, any illegal act by Biden, or any other president that the SCOTUS doesn't agree with, will be deemed by them as a "personal act," not an "official act" for which they say a president can not be prosecuted. See, they wove in some cute little loopholes in their decision. One, that only "personal" acts can be prosecuted, and two, that the courts (i.e., the Supreme Court, because that is the only court that matters) will be the Decider of the Official Acts. As long as this corrupt body is in power, then they rule.
It isn't a triumvirate balance of power anymore, my friends. It is unfettered power by six whack jobs, driven by ideology and whatever dark money is coming their way.
The Dark Money
Among our other myriad tasks, we need to follow the money. It is getting really stinky up in the Courthouse. What dark money is propping these puppets? We know of some, such as the secretive money to state supreme courts that the Brennan Center for Justice outlined in 2017, dark money in the federal justice system as outlined by The Washington Post in 2019, and Harlan Crow's blatant bribes to Clarence Thomas, uncovered by ProPublica last year. There's got to be more out there. Ideology is not enough to upend our complete system of government, is it? Maybe it is, but seriously.... we need to follow the money.
This decision "could embolden Trump"
Uh, yeah. Duh. Could embolden? Honey, you are a little late. Within hours, it has emboldened him! Within hours of the decision, he both threatened a political rival and thrown his hush-money conviction off the rails.
On Tuesday he asked Judge Merchan to review the case for which he was convicted and postpone the sentencing. The problem with even this behavior of the pre-King, supposedly prosecutable private citizen, any evidence that is tainted by his kingship years of 2017-2020 will be subject to being tossed. And thusly, the whole conviction may be tossed. The new sentencing date is September 18, provided the case hasn't gone to an appeals court on its way back up to "his Supreme Court." This legal analyst speaking with MSNBC, indicates that no amount of substantive evidence will be thrown out. Let's hope against hope that Trump's kingship isn't deemed to be retroactive.
Within hours of the Court's decision, Trump also called for a "military tribunal" to prosecute former Republican Representative from Wyoming Liz Cheney. Skip the court system altogether. You're Commander in Chief! You are a king! Order your military minions to prosecute her, and for heavens sake, they have rifles! Go ahead and execute her, too!
It goes beyond that one menacing individual, too. Learn about Project 2025, a disturbing plan for a right-wing Christian-nationalist takeover of America. Read about it and why it is so alarming at Democracy Docket.
The Inspirational Heather Cox Richardson
And yet! There is hope. We are the People who can save us. Historian and author Heather Cox Richardson has inspired millions with her columns on her Substack and Facebook. Recently she held a live event on Facebook and laid the facts our plainly. Here is the powerful video, which both terrifies and inspires in one fell swoop. Please watch. Once you get past the terror, get inspired by the power of We the People. Put on your thinking caps and make a plan. And keep reading for ideas on what you can do to help.
What we can do. And must do.
We must mobilize and organize. We must work fervently for the next four months to make sure that the madman is thwarted at the polls.
Not only that, we must work to elect Democrats up and down every ticket in every state and local level. We must work to take back both houses of Congress. Only then may we:
- Impeach the baddies and remove them from office. I'm looking at you, Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh! AOC has already made movements toward that end.
- Expand the Supreme Court.
- Challenge this decision to the newly expanded Supreme Court or codify the rule of law to mean The Rule of Law for everyone. EVERY ONE!
- Reinstate reproductive rights to women from coast to coast.
- Further the perfecting of the Union. There is much more to do.
But that is in the future. What can you do today?
Like Heather Cox Richardson said, do what you do best.
Do you like to write? Write letters to the editor. Write to your Members of Congress. Resistbot can help with both. Write postcards; Postcards to Voters can get addresses and messages in your hands. You provide the postcard and the stamp.
Are you artistic? Make art! Draw a cartoon; make your ideas known through your craft. Volunteer your skill to a group that needs you.
Are you musical? Write a new song or sing an old protest song.
Are you on TikTok? Post that song or skit – engage your audience. Spread the word. Share others' work.
Are you on social media? Speak up. Share things. Get the word out. Share this post that you are reading, or this one: What Can You Do? which contains just this information about action. Share articles, art, music, information.
Are you an organizer? Organize a rally or a protest march. Get a group together to brainstorm and mobilize. Join Indivisible. They'll help you take action.
Attend your member of Congress's town hall meetings. Talk to other voters. Talk with your representative how you can help. Find out about your representative's town hall meetings by finding your representatives and visiting their websites.
Do you have a printer? Print out leaflets, cartoons, handbills, or posters and put them around town (shout out to chief mischief maker Sister Resister Anne for this old idea whose time has come again!). Let people know the situation and share information about what they can do.
Do you have time or money? Volunteer or donate to a candidate or another organization helping to get the vote out and spread information. Here are some ideas for that:
- Learn about your local races and ballot measures at The League of Women Voters's Vote411.com. Volunteer or donate.
- Volunteer to be a poll worker. Vote411 can also help you find out how.
- Help people get registered to vote. Rock the Vote can help you learn how. So can the League of Women Voters.
- Find the candidates running in your area, learn about them and their stand on the issues. Help one of them get elected. Vote Smart can help you find that information. So can Ballotpedia or Vote.org.
Read Indivisible's Action Guide to get more ideas!
Comment below in the comments section and share your ideas.
But most of all - don't despair. Don't be paralyzed. Be kind to yourself and give yourself grace if you can't do that one thing today. Recognize what you cannot control and just do what you can, when you can. Even if it's one small little act. Small acts together become a movement.
“A people fired ... with love of their country and of liberty, a zeal for the public good, and a noble emulation of glory, will not be disheartened or dispirited by a succession of unfortunate events. But like them, may we learn by defeat the power of becoming invincible.” ― Abigail Adams
Thomas Paine again:
“A government of our own is our natural right: And when a man seriously reflects on the precariousness of human affairs, he will become convinced, that it is infinitely wiser and safer, to form a constitution of our own in a cool deliberate manner, while we have it in our power, than to trust such an interesting event to time and chance. If we omit it now, some Massanello [an Italian dictator that rose quickly to power in 1647] may hereafter arise, who laying hold of popular disquietudes, may collect together the desperate and the discontented, and by assuming to themselves the powers of government, may sweep away the liberties of the continent like a deluge.... We have it in our power to begin the world over again."
***
The Joe Biden Factor
The fallout from Joe Biden's excruciating debate performance continues. Democrats have started coming out publicly to urge him to step aside, with Lloyd Doggett, representative from Texas, being the first. Leaks abound about what others are thinking.
The fallout from Joe Biden's excruciating debate performance continues. Democrats have started coming out publicly to urge him to step aside, with Lloyd Doggett, representative from Texas, being the first. Leaks abound about what others are thinking.
There are increasing reports that his frailty has been shielded from the public and from others.
There are reports that even Barack Obama has been in close contact with Biden and sharing his concerns, though publicly he has maintained his support.
And polling isn't great. Here are the latest:
- New York Times Poll: Trump has widened his lead, and polls 49% to Biden's 43%.
- A FiveThirtyEight polling average shows Biden's disapproval rating is growing and his approval rating is shrinking.
- And the election polling average on FiveThirtyEight shows Trump's lead growing.
- A CNN Poll finds Vice President Kamala Harris in a statistical tie with Trump in a hypothetical contest, with 47% for Trump and 45% for Harris.
There is nothing we can do, save maybe contacting our Members of Congress to express your opinion and urge them to urge Biden in that direction. Whether Joe Biden continues the race or not is up to one person, and one person only, and that is Joe Biden.
There are plans to rehabilitate his image, but he better do it quickly. He has already fettered away one whole week of the handful of weeks that we have left. Possible events to show he can still do it:
- A live interview tomorrow (Friday, July 5) with ABC News's George Stephanopoulos
- More press conferences and "walking to the helicopter" type media chats
- Another debate (this one terrifies me)
Time is running out, and many have concerns. The voiced concerns are becoming a bigger noise.
What do you think, dear resisters? I know that if he is the eventual candidate, those of us on the left will continue to support him. But those in the middle? We risk them not voting or voting for Trump. Either would be dire for the election. And for the future of our country.
Who are names being floated for a replacement? Gretchen Whitmer, governor of Michigan; Gavin Newsom, governor of California; Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg; or Vice President Kamala Harris. It makes most sense to choose Kamala. She's the Vice President, for lordt's sake! It's her job to be ready to take over the office. She can handily take over the candidacy. Plus, she is polling better than the others (and frankly, better than Joe Biden). Sources in the Democratic machinery agree.
I think it's exciting to think about having a new candidate, especially a woman. It heartens me to imagine a woman president, especially a woman of color, taking the oath on January 20, 2025.
So, what can you do to help make that happen? Let's get to work, Resisters!
