Yes, it is the worst Supreme Court in our history. It works on the shadow docket and is essentially now part of the fascist machine of this era. In 250 years we have never had one like it..
Joanne, I don't think such a kick would help Barrett. She is so wrapped up in her pseudochristian righteousness, she would never get the symbolism of it. She is not a great thinker which is why she was nominated and the stupid Senate Republicans and some Democrats approved her, a definite non-entity, and a woman at that, just what Baby Donnie ordered.
As Trump wages war on Iran his Supremes in the federal courts are imposing their ideology on the rest of us. An Iran-type Morality Police is a certainty if these people remain in power.
Excellent point! We have our own Ayatollah police at SCOTUS. I am truly sorry that Kagan, Sotomayor and Brown Jackson have to sit with these perverted justice(s). Thankful that many district courts still have cojones to uphold justice, rule of law.
I was just thinking about how Iran has been a theocracy for 47 years and exactly what this regime has been working so hard to put into motion, a White Christian Male-Dominated Nation
I could understand Barrett's smile the moment she was confirmed to the Court by the Senate. What I could not understand, and what repelled me, was the pride her smile betrayed. Had she truly cared about her country, as well as her reputation, she would have begged her supporters to postpone her confirmation to a post-election date.
Renee, anyone who was paying attention would have known that both Alito and Roberts, nominees by Bush,Jr. were racist misogynistic whiny white men who care for nothing but what works for them and their sick ideologies. There was plenty of evidence, but alas, the Senate ignored it all just as enough of the Senate did to approve Clarence Thomas, a white wannabee misogynist who seems to hate his race and works to handicap Black Americans at every turn; truly despicable!
Your personal attacks on Barrett are uncalled for about her kids, etc., particularly the crack about the Down's Syndrome child, which is beneath contempt.
What's important, relevant, and worth discussing are her politics and decisions on the SC
"Karen," why do you write under your husband's name??? Don't you have a life of your own?? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Here's more about Barrett: l couldn't stand that silly fru-fru outfit she wore to her confirmation hearing! Ugh -- ugly lavendar frilly neckline blouse. And her BEAMING SMILE as she stood on the balcony of the WHITE HOUSE, NO LESS, after she won her appointment, with TRUMP BEAMING BEHIND HER!!! ARGH!! If she'd had ANY DECENCY AT ALL, she would have declined that appointment, standing up on behalf of Obama NOT BEING ABLE TO APPOINT SOMEONE, STILL A WHOLE YEAR LEFT IN HIS TERM!! AND THEN, there was cry-baby Kavanaugh, screaming 😱 and throwing a hissy-fit at HIS hearing, after Christine Blasie (sp?) Ford's testimony against him! What have we got on this treacherous excuse for a court?? Six serious losers!!! ANYONE WHO WOULD ACCEPT ANYTHING FROM THE DUMPSTER HASN'T GOT A MORAL FIBER IN THEIR WHOLE BEING!
Dear Klare: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! So clever. I write under my husband's name because I tried to set up my own substack and somehow it got messed up, and I am very computer savvy, so I don't know.
Commenting on Barrett's clothing choices is another unworthy low blow for no purpose except to be nasty and sexist. Do you comment on men's clothing also? Don't think so.
As far as the rest of your comments, some of them are relevant, if way over the top.
Oh, and there again, Klare, you assume it's my husband's substack, yet another sexist assumption
Timothy. I note that Americans claim to love free speech yet often ABUSE It. I agree taking a crack at someone through their kids is not a proper use of free speech. Free speech is meant to be used RESPONSIBLY. ABUSE IT YOU LOSE IT. America abused free speech for years; often using the defence of it as an EXCUSE to invade other countries. Today; Trump Associated are making sure you LOSE IT.
Is there any such thing as using free speech RESPONSIBLY? Free speech is by definition not regulated in any way at any time, with rare exceptions, e.g., the old chestnut yelling "fire" in a theater. I personally object to Klare's vitriolic, sexist observations, just as I object to what I perceive as racist or otherwise unacceptable expressions of thought. However, anyone has the right to express their thoughts however they wish, including Klare.
The GOP plotted and strategized for decades before Trump came on the scene to make the Constitution, including the First Amendment, superfluous. It was blatant and obvious, but apparently most people weren't paying attention or taking it seriously enough. Now it may be too late - Karen Cooper
Mike, you are so damn clever! Puh-lease . . . take up a second career! Colbert is about to be taken off the air (UNBELIEVABLY!!!) . . . WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS . . . A NEW COMEDIAN!
I guess you could pick some of the Republicans that are comedians because they surely aren't doing their jobs representing the constituents but representing the clown in the White House.
I’ve never heard of conservative comedian be funny at all I mean, no nothing, does not register. Yes, that’s proof that they are the ones that are out of their minds.
Mike, Klare, Klare, Klare, Klare -- it is German! "Claire" is French -- I am not French! (I forgive you. 🙃) I think that's what they do mean -- a new life! 😀
It's the worst because its so trump bought!!! Can you imagine giving the president immunity??????!!!! How against the Constitution is that??? Makes him above the law. When we get a new Congress in November we need to start impeachment hearings on alito, thomas, kavanaugh and barrett.
I really would rather impeach alito and thomas -- they really need to be off the Supreme Court. But doing it now, means trump would just appoint more judges that vote for him rather than for the American people. Even expanding the court right now gives trump the opportunity to appoint a whole lot more judges that would (of course) be young and on the court for decades. I really don't know what the answer is.
but it also means that the DEMs that we elect need to be ready to say NO to the judges that trump nominates!!!! because they will just be photo copies of alito and thomas and kavanaugh. We really need thoughtful non-partisan judges on the court . . . is such a thing possible???
Margaret, who knows anymore? What Trump has already gotten away with, and continues daily to foist upon the American people AND THE REST OF THE WORLD, IS JUST MIND-BOGGLING. IT'S LIKE ADOLF HITLER ALL OVER AGAIN. I TRULY BELIEVE HIS WHOLE AIM IN LIFE IS TO B-E JUST LIKE HITLER AND TAKE OUT AS MANY PEOPLE THAT H-E DOES NOT "APPROVE OF" AS POSSIBLE!! IT'S HORRIFYING! WHAT C-A-N ALITO, ROBERTS, THOMAS, KAVANAUGH, BARRETT, AND GORSUCH BE THINKING??? TRUMP'S PERSONAL BROWNSHIRTS AND GESTAPO!!!
As for future Dems in office, as well as the current members of Congress, do any of them have spines anymore, except for the very few, like Raskin, Al Green, Khanna, Sanders, AOC, Warren, Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown who is running again . . . but they need ALL OF CONGRESS TO JOIN THEM IN TAKING TRUMP OUT! Many people are applying to Canada and other countries to get out of here. Who can blame them? Other than just ignoring what is happening and determining to live life peacefully, quietly and joyfully on one's own, even trying to participate in political life has become a prescription for mental disaster. No wonder so many people are turning to self-sedation thru drugs, and/or suicide. If we don't start appreciating and taking care of this beautiful planet we have been given, Planet Earth is going to have its way with us, through global warming and climate change, and kick out the human species PERMANENTLY. The way "natural" disasters are happening with more and more frequency, do we have even 50 good years left to thrive and survive? Case in point: Colorado just got dumped on with two feet of snow overnight, after an entire winter season of DRY WEATHER AND TEMPS IN THE 80s!!! In my own state, spring/summer has already been here EARLY for more than two whole months! The temps and weather change every three to five days or so, alternating between winter and summer! This is definitely not normal! Mother Earth is just plain tired of us humans, I am surmising! The Earth is wiser than we are, and who can blame it for wanting to be done with us???
Walter, the two worst previously in my opinion were the Dred Scott and Separate but Equal" courts. This one goes beyond racism and corporate favoritism; it is working to take away hard-earned rights that Congress voted to reaffirm unanimously 20 years ago, essentially negating the will of the people, wanting to return to Jim Crow and all its appalling actions. There is nothing positive to say about this SC except that there are three "liberals" who are doing their best to call out their colleagues for their bad behavior and decisions. Kudos to Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson!
First, whoever is in charge over there has succeeded in depleting our stores of advanced weaponry by a good 50% in just a little over 30 days, and what did it accomplish? Nothing that will affect the fighting ability and resolve of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Iran's ground forces number in the area of roughly 900,000 well equipped, well trained, and experienced fighters. Iran has been termed by military experts as being a "Natural fortress." Attacking that country with ground forces would result in a blood bath history will not soon forget. Trump hasn't dealt any strategic blow to Iran that they can't replace in short order due to their vast wealth. Everything Trump has destroyed so far equates to little more than pawns being removed from a chess board. There is only one way to remove Iran as a nuclear threat, and no amount of posturing with huge explosions can alter that fact. To do the job --we have to be there --in the sand, for there is no other way to neutralize that country's destructive intentions. Every last vestige of Iran's Uranium enrichment program has got to be destroyed. Just handing us the nuclear material we seek is meaningless--they'll just make more. Something Iran seems to love--a "Slow-Poke"--an all day sucker...and Trump fits the bill perfectly. Hegseth is full of it, he wasn't even a decent talk show host. Mr. Trump, the truth is anything but treasonous, so far we aren't winning anything.
Iran would not have been enriching uranium past 20% if Trump had not torn up Obama‘s agreement with them. (Correction: It was 3-4%, not 20%.) Nine countries signed the agreement, including Iran. They agreed not to enrich for weapons. They also agreed that they would have international inspectors check that they were sticking to the agreement.
The agreement was to last 15 years. After that, the same nations would decide whether Iran could have loosened sanctions against them. Up to 20% enrichment (correction: 3-4%)would have allowed them to create nuclear energy for their country. But it takes about 90% enrichment to create a bomb or other weapon. So the 20% (edit: 3-4%) was far below what they could’ve done to create a weapon and they were sticking with this agreement.
Two years after it was signed Trump came along and ripped it up. He did not like that Obama had initiated the agreement. He does not like the Black president and tries to do anything he can to cancel out any agreements.
So what happened? As soon as the sanctions were lifted, Iran decided that they could go ahead with their weapons enrichment. So really all of this brouhaha about Iran being able to enrich uranium for weapons is Donald Trump’s fault. Then he goes in and accuses Iran of making enrichment for weapons, and that’s the reason he went to attack them.
So let’s reiterate. He tore up the agreement which Iran had been sticking with. Iran reacted by saying that they would go ahead and enrich for weapons now that the agreement was canceled. Now Trump is angry because Iran is enriching for nuclear weapons. Actually, Trump should be pointing the finger at himself. He created this situation, and now he is pretending that Iran was doing this all along. They were not. Try to make that make sense.
If you don’t believe me, then look it up for yourself. Google is your friend.
probably, but what is wealth for? For Trump and many of his supporters wealth is a means to power and high status. This is why the perceive a wealth tax such a threat.
Having trump as our president does not make me even want to celebrate such a great anniversary. It may end up being the time that America started it's steep decline in honor and honesty!
The day Trump was first elected was the start of America's "steep decline" not just in honor and honesty but in world leadership, justice, care for the needy everywhere, and we will all regret the stupidity of voters who foolishly thought this clown in a suit was the answer to their problems.
More proof that the steep decline in morality and in being an informed educated voter began before Rump. It just manifest in His election (which I capitalize b/c He thinks he's a King or even Jesus). It's sarcasm. What gets me is the depth of the ignorance, and lack of intelligence at such a mass scale. Someone enabled this guy. Not only once, but twice. I clearly recall the first time and the mess it created. Even my wife who is not a college graduate, can't fathom how people could vote for Him knowing He is a felon. She also cannot fathom women supporting Him, knowing His history on that. She does not follow news that closely, but knew this aside from anything I told her. So the election wasn't the start of the steep decline, it was just proof thereof, of something that had been festering for a long time.
Correct, if they hold to that. I need to renew mine, and I don't want that horrendous image on mine for the next ten years. I hope for no surprise, and by mail, I get one of the standard ones.
Trump/MAGA/GOP would be FAR happier if ONLY people with the resources to travel internationally were allowed to vote. (Much like a land-owning requirement for Americans to be "allowed" to vote.)
I've never had a passport, and I don't have your answer now either. I'm sorry, Dorothy.
If Americans want to move to France, for example, you need to show France your sources of income and wealth, so you won't be a financial burden on that nation. If Americans want to move to another town, another country, they will find it difficult to be accepted into their communities of choice.
It's somewhere around $130, and if you also want the passport card, and I usually do both at the same time, it's an additional $30. Give or take a few dollars.
I have just renewed my passport to avoid getting the trump face following me wherever I may travel. Do it now before the ruling becomes fixed if you qualify and do it immediately.
But I suspect that would just put my name and likeness on yet ANOTHER list of "undesirables". Or worse, I may have already been "NSPM-7ed", and I just don't know it yet. (Not joking even a little.)
There is one thing that very few seem to take note of that has extreme lasting effects. That is the destruction of history with all of the bombs that have been dropped and will continue to be dropped if trump does as he threatens. In this he is following the Netanyahu way of getting even--bomb bomb bomb and destroy the entire civilization that you feel superior to. Don't even look to history in the area that is filled with so much cultural and religious history--just bomb to get your way.
Donna, great synopsis. Thank you. The only thing is, I believe I heard in a discussion/report on NPR this week that they were actually up to 60% enrichment, not just 20%, because the expert speaking and being interviewed added that 60% is not that far from 90%.
I was wrong. Iran was restricted to only 3-4% enrichment under the agreement, not 20%. Since the agreement was torn up, they've been doing 60%. So, that's probably what NPR was referring to.
tRump is perpetually guilty of reverse causation. Here's an example:
A) he stabs someone, repeatedly;
B) they scream out in pain;
C) he's asked "Why did you stab him?";
D) he answers "Because he screamed!"
The lack of critical thinking ability, the lack of insightful journalists who could analyze these things and provide good insights to help people make decisions, all this prevents us from calling tRump out for all his B.S.
Hey, to paraphrase Everett Dirksen, "a trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money." Of course he was being facetious and the number he used was "billion" not trillion. What happened to all those fiscally conservative Republicans who loved to berate "tax and spend Democrats?"
Yeah, who's the King of Big Spenders now? And whose Party members chant "Woo-Hoo, more tax cuts!" Every. Single.Time. they have the votes to pass a bill making life cushier for the high-income types? It's the descendants of those 1950's gray flannel-suited Republicans!
Raise taxes on those who can afford it, adjust the Social Security Pay Cap; stop the bleeding, start reducing the National Debt to a manageable level NOW before our government's insatiable desire for more debt sinks us and the rest of humanity into an economic depression that makes WWII look like a garden party.
Our nation celebrates its 250th birthday this year. Over that entire time, America has never defaulted on its financial obligations. How long can we continue with such feckless imbeciles in Congress and the Supreme Court? Obviously, Trump and his coterie of clownish incompetents have got to go.
The Republican Party will never recover its mojo while its leaders kow-tow to MAGAts, conservative Evangelicals and Christian Nationalists, and the Musk/Bezos et al billionaire cabal.
Absolutely. However, I fear by the time Trump actually leaves office (IF he leaves office) the Republican ass-kissers will have so skewered the voting system that more and more Americans will be disenfrachised; our state and national legislative districts will be so gerrymandered no legitimate candidate can win; the middle class will be so financially stressed and struggling they may feel powerless and give up; big money will have so loaded the system in favor of the "over-lords" that democracy will be effectively finished.
The prospect of a second American Revolution is unappealing, but if that is what it takes for a thorough cleansing of our system of government, then I would be in favor of it, but I do not believe such a drastic action will be called for, as I retain my belief in the essential goodness of character possessed by the American people.
From reading and observing MAGA statements -- from the sidelines, admittedly -- I gather that they carry grievances against our system and society in general, as they see it, which have not been properly dealt with through the normal means of government action, and so they are searching for some means of effecting change. They feel attracted to and ultimately empowered by Trump because "he is no ordinary politician."
The common folk having been bamboozled by the flood of lies and propaganda of the Right have seized on the idea that they are the victims of a great fraud perpetrated by the Right's enemies -- these being any political figure or personage of the Left (meaning all who espouse ideas not contained in the orthodoxy of that strain of Rightist thought) -- and are taught by example and rote repetition to believe what the propagandists have fed them.
It will take a huge revolution in thought for these people, who have been seduced by the drug of Trumpism to believe him, though he is merely a skillful showman, mesmerizing the masses, selling the snake oil poison of "only I can save America" and other kinds of nonsense.
We fear the real prize these seditious politicians are promised is a share of our privatized Medicare/Social Security funds collected from our paychecks, our prepaid promise they dare patronize as benefits.
Trump and the MAGA extremists have legitimized extremism everywhere, especially in Iran. The collapse of American liberalism and democracy is a world wide tragedy. The world may not survive it.
Victor--Everything swings in one form of rhythm or another. The pendulum doesn't always express the true feelings of the people. Time stands as the consummate thief--for it will eventually rob us of everything.
There is a very brief moment in the swinging pendulum in which it seems that it might stop between the swings. If it did, the whole clock would be worthless. That brief moment is the moment of our life spans. It exists because of the momentum the pendulum carries. We owe our lives to that momentum. Celebrate the clock, don't lament the briefness of time--it's a gift!.
Yup, without a doubt. Roberts should be reminded of his words long ago wherein he stated that the Supreme Court was not a political entity. Now it’s the supreme asshole’s private law firm.
Colin, amen, amen, amen, amen to that! I constantly refer to him as the pansy ass! It's too bad we can't call them, like we can the other departments and branches of the federal gov't., or I'd be on the phone daily to them, giving them a piece of my mind!
This is horrible to say, but I wish we could bring back lynching, for one person and one person only -- Clarence, uglier-than-shit Thomas!!!
Actually, doesn't G.B. practice hanging as a form of capital punishment? And didn't WE hang Saddam Hussein??? So I guess my comment isn't so bad, after all.
Hello Klare, The UK used to hang murderers, but it was abolished in the 1960s. Now they get an automatic life sentence, which in practice means they are released when the Parole board thinks it is safe to release them. Saddam was tried by the new Iraqi administration and hanged. Nothing to do with the US or us.
I think three landmark cases where innocent suspects were hanged. changed things. I know a judge at our local golf club who said that he supported the change. There is nothing more horrible than hanging an innocent.
Thank you, Colin, for the update and information. I can recall the scenario of Saddam being hanged, with him telling us (and U.S.) that we would be sorry, I think it was. Probably because he had control of his country, because there were no weapons of mass destruction, and because of the rise of Isis, both in Iraq and worldwide. When Sadam was in control, neither Al Quida (alquaida sp?) OR Isis were allowed into Iraq! Bush-Cheney sure botched all of that!
I know I say what are considered terrible things (make terrible comments), but it assuages my anger!
R Hodson, thank you for the correction. SO much has happened since our botched attack on Iraq (when we should have gone after Saudi Arabia, as 15 of the hijackers came from there!!!), it is difficult to remember the details from 23 years ago (wasn't it?).
Well, at least a) it was the Iraqi judicial system which pronounced the penalty, not a bunch of militiamen who just shot him as he came out of hiding, like Libyans did to Gaddhafi, and b) the US did not hang him, shoot him, or put him on trial.
Professor Reich and Heather Lofthouse: sadly, there are so many crimes being committed by the orange rapist and his regime that you were unable to even talk about his attacks, his WAR on american culture and nature! oil drilling has commenced on sacred treaty lands in the Black Hills
and the orange rapist and his regime have removed access to HIV/AIDS drugs from the entire nation of zambia because he wants all their mineral wealth and they won't give it to him:
the damage that this regime of greedy bastards is doing to our nation and to its standing in the world is irreparable. the damage that the orange rapist and his regime and his mindless drooling gaggle of MAGA freaks will harm this nation and its peoples forever. we will never recover and we will deserve giant evil stain on our name and reputation.
GrrlScientist, as I was saying to my brother last night, we MUST resign ourselves that our generation(s) is having to now do what our parents had to do during WWII in the late '30s/'40s. Only we can't be like the people of Nazi Germany, allowing Hitler to take over and murder with abandon. WE MUST TAKE CONTROL NOW AND DEMAND TRUMP'S OUSTER UNTIL THOSE TO BLAME FOR ALL OF THIS (PROJECT 2025rs) HEED OUR DEMANDS AND WARNINGS!!! I don't know you, but you sound like you are super well-educated, so I am a little bit disappointed in you for your fears. Buck up, girl . . . Get some GUTS!!
Apart from the Warren Era the Supreme Court has always sided with the rich and powerful, manipulating the law to both protect and further their interests. If, in the future, someone writes an honest history of the High Court, John Roberts will be held in even lower regard than either Roger Taney or Melville Fuller. No other Chief Justice has presided over a Court that was has been so destructive to the basic fabric of American democracy on so many levels as John Roberts. Frighteningly there appears to be no end in sight to what this horrible person and the miserable cohort he is part of is going to do to this country.
Don't give up. Read the Constitution, line by line, paragraph by paragraph. We need a CHANGE in the Supreme Court. Our Founders didn't think about the fact that these individuals that were to be the protectors of our Democracy, would be BOUGHT. Change is essential for the future protection of all of us. We the people, need to make that change happen.
This is the burning question: who can stand Trump? It isn't a question, anymore, is he crooked, evil and sick. The question is, what is going on with the people who can't see it, and are still cheering? A sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-dplflem8 This speech was like Bill Murray playing The Lounge Lizard, and (thankfully not some huge crowd) who was going along out there, instead of asking themselves, wait, this is the POTUS?
Just watched this. He should taken away by the guys in White coats. We used to go a music event years ago in Liverpool. An tramp would walk in and start making noises that made no sense. Trump is more articulate, but even crazier. He is more deranged and excruciating to listen to. When he's gone we should all praise God that we never have to listen to him again.
Could someone please promise me that when that POS is no longer a part of our government that every gaudy crappy thing he had done to Our House will be completely removed? Please someone promise me that and I will stop crying every single time I see a picture of the horrible tacky things he has done without any approval at all! It sickens and disgust me and the hate I feel grows! I am so disgusted by the supreme court! I hate what they have done and I would love to see all six of them thrown out! We have already fought for civil rights! All of the hard work for civil rights has been demolished! Now we have to start again from square one and it is so damn wrong! You damn confederate racists lost the war! Suck it up Buttercup! You can go right on hating people of color all you want, but you simply cannot make the rest of us feel that way. All you have succeeded in doing is given us more of a reason to fight this god-awful regime and taking our country back. I am through with even trying to understand maga! All of you need to crawl back under your stupid rocks, slink back into the woodwork and damn well stay there! Republicans will be remembered for all of this for years to come. They will be remembered for trying, but not succeeding, in destroying our country. Since that orange turd has come on the scene and given republicans permission to show their ugliness, cruelty and inhumanity, the crazies have taken over! With so many news outlets spewing lies, misinformation and propaganda, many people are beginning to think what they are saying is what they are supposed to believe! With all of this shit going on, I will simply double down! I will work harder than ever to get my candidates elected. I will NEVER GIVE UP! I will NEVER SURRENDER! Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
Yes. We’ll tear it all down or at least the majority of it- just as the Allied forces, and then the German people dismantled the Nazi flags, statues, pictures, and as many of the grotesque monuments as were reasonable to destroy. It’ll be a long process.
Thank you so much, William! That is what I needed to hear this morning! I am glad that I am not the only one who wants to see every single bit of it torn down! All of his golden crap destroyed! When our children study about this period in history, I hope with all of my heart, they will learn valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made! Thanks again, William!
In my view, the de-cartelization of the German industrial economy that under pinned and fueled the war, was done mostly by the American occupation government was as important, if not more so, than the removal of symbols of the regime. This was not an easy task and was somewhat incomplete, but it was done under and by an occupation government. Laurel at Balancecraft has a great series on this.
Always, R Hodsdon! We need everyone in this fight! Yes, people are tired. They are wrung out, but fight on we must! This is our country and we simply cannot let it fall to an authoritarian regime hell bent on taking away all of our rights and liberties! I want our future generations to say we stood up and did every single thing we could to keep our America!
Christopher Armitage - author, researcher and writer on substack - just filed a motion to disbar Roberts, based on Roberts' repeated written lies about his family income and his consistent failures to recuse himself from cases where there is every appearance of a conflict of interest.
Any US citizen can also request Roberts' disbarment. The more, the merrier --- and the more embarrassing for Roberts, a man so concerned about leaving his mark on US history.
Some thoughts - The matter of the US Supreme Court was not addressed in the US Constitution. Kind of odd when you think about it. I don’t really understand why this is. I would like to know more.
To me, over time I saw the number of 5/4 votes as a warning sign that something wasn’t working.
I would like a Supreme Court that looks like the composition of the ICJ justices.
“Appointments to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are governed by the Statute of the International Court of Justice, which requires that judges be elected based on merit, character, and legal expertise rather than nationality, though no two judges can be from the same state. As of 2026, the 15 judges serve nine-year terms.” I think 15 is a good number.
Some have suggested a 18-year term limit. I think nine years is long enough since in any case lifetime appointments did not help shield the justices from undue partisan influences and corrupt practices.
Other countries have various appointment methods to avoid over-politicized courts. Why can’t we learn from that?
The Constitution has served the country well for over 200 years. Don't forget that all your rights depend on it. State-rights advocates hate it. Are you with them?
Could it be possible that the English SC didn't play as big a role in the 18th century as it does in our 21st century? Where our SC is using 'originalism'. which didn't exist in England at that time, to send us back there ? btw, no number is a good number if Originalism is allowed to infect the Court's rulings. and bbtw, IMO the problem is the selection process, not the number selected.
I agree about the originalism. I believe that some of the founders might have also agreed for the most part. They probably expected us to wisely do something about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. As far as Bentham, he wasn't crazy about common law along with the Bill of Rights. Bentham, a utilitarian wanted less idealism and more codification in terms of acting on idealism. The basic problem, which is showing up in the partisan SCOTUS and in events today, is that every day people have little idea about what the crime is. It is called Dog Law.
I hope my take on things makes some sense. First of all the US Supreme Court has exceeded its jurisdiction. We saw this in Bush v. Gore. This has encourage Dog Law. Which is to kick a dog for a crime it didn’t know was a crime.
With dog law you are not punished before the facts but for crimes you don’t
understand. When the courts are no longer easily understood by people dog law comes into play (access to voting, loss of first amendment rights, death and loss due to a controlling and greedy marketplace, and so on).
Dog law is related to the behavior of the Supreme Court. Its job is to decide cases and controversy. Its decision is based on a system that defines law in controversial terms and one side or the other wins (where there is a better way regarding this adversarial system, but that is another story). Anyway, its job is not to make law. It can’t pontificate. It can’t issue declaratory judgments. So, when you hear what is a “declaratory” statement - to paraphrase…everything is fine so you don’t need Section 11 anymore, huh, that nullification is essentially dog law. It is a deterrent based on values dictated by the majority of the Court. Consequently, when you look at the effects where some states follow its recent gerrymandering ruling you see a domino effect ; a parade of horribles where justice goes out the window due to SCOTUS ignoring the facts, the judgement of lower courts and the understanding of people, now severed from the Court. Its behavior, including its shadow dockets where law is further obscured, is a compelling call to action to reform the Court.
Also, I think we’ve seen, given statements by the majority, coming out of the Court , that it is a very lazy court. Its misinformation regarding history shows it doesn’t do its homework.
Regarding greed, I don’t know how this all is going to turn out in terms of humanity. I just rely on the good of people I know and pockets of inspiration in the world.
Thanks for your explanation about Dog Law. It certainly makes sense. Its apparent this court has its own agenda and are looking at every case that comes before it to insert their legal version in spite of what's come before They are no longer a legitimate court and the public sees that.
AI will revolutionize the legal profession, the judiciary included. There no longer is a need for long-term serving justices. Two-three years shuold suffice.
Certainly not for life. Again, men didn't live all that long in the 18th century so life-time appointment wasn't such a big deal. Likely most people would feel comfortable with increments of 6 years, like we do with Senators. Maybe 12 Year? 18? But no longer.
In looking at constitutional reforms globally a major struggle right now given climate change is between undue marketplace ambitions and intergenerational equity. We need to refocus the notion of property rights and articulate human rights and public trust meanings. We also need to focus less on procedural dictates and consider merit based claims. Perhaps this means exploring a living constitution. So, it isn't just that the US Supreme Court needs an overhaul, it is our values and how we want to express them. Jeremy Bentham critiqued our bill of rights with good reason.
yes...how shitty a life Roberts has led since the days of shoving his head up bush s shitter his goal has been what he achieved...to gut the voting rights act...why a man would be so awful a retrorrgade brain bigot to do this is more for future if there is one historians but undoing it and preventing pricks from doing such terrible things is an immediate concern
Yes, it is the worst Supreme Court in our history. It works on the shadow docket and is essentially now part of the fascist machine of this era. In 250 years we have never had one like it..
SCOTUS needs a big kick in the SCROTUS.
Can I do it? Barrett need to be knocked in the twat. Let her know how it feels to have to birth a child from rape.
Joanne, I don't think such a kick would help Barrett. She is so wrapped up in her pseudochristian righteousness, she would never get the symbolism of it. She is not a great thinker which is why she was nominated and the stupid Senate Republicans and some Democrats approved her, a definite non-entity, and a woman at that, just what Baby Donnie ordered.
As Trump wages war on Iran his Supremes in the federal courts are imposing their ideology on the rest of us. An Iran-type Morality Police is a certainty if these people remain in power.
Excellent point! We have our own Ayatollah police at SCOTUS. I am truly sorry that Kagan, Sotomayor and Brown Jackson have to sit with these perverted justice(s). Thankful that many district courts still have cojones to uphold justice, rule of law.
I hope they can hang in long enough to be vindicated. They are warriors for truth in dark times.
Babs, agree, agree, agree, agree!
sometimes Kagan disappoints me....
I was just thinking about how Iran has been a theocracy for 47 years and exactly what this regime has been working so hard to put into motion, a White Christian Male-Dominated Nation
- Karen Cooper
Victor, oh God, please . . . don't say such things! We can put them on the coming revolutionary hit list as well! 😉 😀😃🙂🙃😊😇
The only thing that would wake people up is to take away their money! They have no morals, pride or shame.
There is some dispute as to whether Mitch McConnell is alive…..
It depends on whether you consider human flesh without a soul to be a person.
Hey, it works for Trump. Some British writer described him as a rotting cadaver in a blue suit.
Human? Shirley, you jest.
McConnell's body may still live, but his sold has been gone for decdes.
Oh you really think McConnell ever had a soul?
Too funny, William! Thank goodness he's not running again!
LOL
Klare, what people do in their private lives is their business. BUT when she starts pushing her private agenda on other women....well, Fuck her.
Actually I'd rather not, but I get your drift.
It's not just her, Joanne.
Yes, and they rushed her appointment through in a manner that was not honst!
I could understand Barrett's smile the moment she was confirmed to the Court by the Senate. What I could not understand, and what repelled me, was the pride her smile betrayed. Had she truly cared about her country, as well as her reputation, she would have begged her supporters to postpone her confirmation to a post-election date.
The despicable Supreme Court has sent America back to the 1950’s.
That was Roberts intent for the last 40 years.
Renee, anyone who was paying attention would have known that both Alito and Roberts, nominees by Bush,Jr. were racist misogynistic whiny white men who care for nothing but what works for them and their sick ideologies. There was plenty of evidence, but alas, the Senate ignored it all just as enough of the Senate did to approve Clarence Thomas, a white wannabee misogynist who seems to hate his race and works to handicap Black Americans at every turn; truly despicable!
Ruth, love your description of Old Clarence!
More like back to the 1850's or even the 1750's.
MUCH farther back than that, Renee.
Your personal attacks on Barrett are uncalled for about her kids, etc., particularly the crack about the Down's Syndrome child, which is beneath contempt.
What's important, relevant, and worth discussing are her politics and decisions on the SC
- Karen Cooper
"Karen," why do you write under your husband's name??? Don't you have a life of your own?? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Here's more about Barrett: l couldn't stand that silly fru-fru outfit she wore to her confirmation hearing! Ugh -- ugly lavendar frilly neckline blouse. And her BEAMING SMILE as she stood on the balcony of the WHITE HOUSE, NO LESS, after she won her appointment, with TRUMP BEAMING BEHIND HER!!! ARGH!! If she'd had ANY DECENCY AT ALL, she would have declined that appointment, standing up on behalf of Obama NOT BEING ABLE TO APPOINT SOMEONE, STILL A WHOLE YEAR LEFT IN HIS TERM!! AND THEN, there was cry-baby Kavanaugh, screaming 😱 and throwing a hissy-fit at HIS hearing, after Christine Blasie (sp?) Ford's testimony against him! What have we got on this treacherous excuse for a court?? Six serious losers!!! ANYONE WHO WOULD ACCEPT ANYTHING FROM THE DUMPSTER HASN'T GOT A MORAL FIBER IN THEIR WHOLE BEING!
Dear Klare: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! So clever. I write under my husband's name because I tried to set up my own substack and somehow it got messed up, and I am very computer savvy, so I don't know.
Commenting on Barrett's clothing choices is another unworthy low blow for no purpose except to be nasty and sexist. Do you comment on men's clothing also? Don't think so.
As far as the rest of your comments, some of them are relevant, if way over the top.
Oh, and there again, Klare, you assume it's my husband's substack, yet another sexist assumption
- Karen
I think that comment has been deleted. I hope so.
Timothy. I note that Americans claim to love free speech yet often ABUSE It. I agree taking a crack at someone through their kids is not a proper use of free speech. Free speech is meant to be used RESPONSIBLY. ABUSE IT YOU LOSE IT. America abused free speech for years; often using the defence of it as an EXCUSE to invade other countries. Today; Trump Associated are making sure you LOSE IT.
Is there any such thing as using free speech RESPONSIBLY? Free speech is by definition not regulated in any way at any time, with rare exceptions, e.g., the old chestnut yelling "fire" in a theater. I personally object to Klare's vitriolic, sexist observations, just as I object to what I perceive as racist or otherwise unacceptable expressions of thought. However, anyone has the right to express their thoughts however they wish, including Klare.
The GOP plotted and strategized for decades before Trump came on the scene to make the Constitution, including the First Amendment, superfluous. It was blatant and obvious, but apparently most people weren't paying attention or taking it seriously enough. Now it may be too late - Karen Cooper
Barrett still has a chance to redeem herself by applying the brakes on Trump. I would not bet on it.
She hasn't. Stop leaving her any openings.
No, Victor, he'd shit-can her!
Since '16, I've said here repeatedly: "The SCOTUS is the >true< loss of the '16 election."
More on that moron: https://youtu.be/57nPRKlC6j4?si=QCVdgUgxdwJsZeUf
Mike, you are so damn clever! Puh-lease . . . take up a second career! Colbert is about to be taken off the air (UNBELIEVABLY!!!) . . . WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS . . . A NEW COMEDIAN!
I guess you could pick some of the Republicans that are comedians because they surely aren't doing their jobs representing the constituents but representing the clown in the White House.
And they are NOT FUNNY!
I’ve never heard of conservative comedian be funny at all I mean, no nothing, does not register. Yes, that’s proof that they are the ones that are out of their minds.
Thank you Claire. People keep telling me to get a life. Maybe they mean to get a new life!
Mike, Klare, Klare, Klare, Klare -- it is German! "Claire" is French -- I am not French! (I forgive you. 🙃) I think that's what they do mean -- a new life! 😀
If trump has anything to do with getting a new "comedian" it will be someone that totally sucks up to trump and his illegal administration!
Abolition to be replaced by non partisan judges. Then legal proceedings for the Trump creeps.
My name for them is The Sleazy Six.
Haha YES!
It's the worst because its so trump bought!!! Can you imagine giving the president immunity??????!!!! How against the Constitution is that??? Makes him above the law. When we get a new Congress in November we need to start impeachment hearings on alito, thomas, kavanaugh and barrett.
And before… Citizens United
We need to expand the Supreme Court to 13 as soon as there's a Dem. POTUS.
I really would rather impeach alito and thomas -- they really need to be off the Supreme Court. But doing it now, means trump would just appoint more judges that vote for him rather than for the American people. Even expanding the court right now gives trump the opportunity to appoint a whole lot more judges that would (of course) be young and on the court for decades. I really don't know what the answer is.
Margaret, yes, yes, yes, yes! And don't forget Roberts!
but it also means that the DEMs that we elect need to be ready to say NO to the judges that trump nominates!!!! because they will just be photo copies of alito and thomas and kavanaugh. We really need thoughtful non-partisan judges on the court . . . is such a thing possible???
Margaret, who knows anymore? What Trump has already gotten away with, and continues daily to foist upon the American people AND THE REST OF THE WORLD, IS JUST MIND-BOGGLING. IT'S LIKE ADOLF HITLER ALL OVER AGAIN. I TRULY BELIEVE HIS WHOLE AIM IN LIFE IS TO B-E JUST LIKE HITLER AND TAKE OUT AS MANY PEOPLE THAT H-E DOES NOT "APPROVE OF" AS POSSIBLE!! IT'S HORRIFYING! WHAT C-A-N ALITO, ROBERTS, THOMAS, KAVANAUGH, BARRETT, AND GORSUCH BE THINKING??? TRUMP'S PERSONAL BROWNSHIRTS AND GESTAPO!!!
As for future Dems in office, as well as the current members of Congress, do any of them have spines anymore, except for the very few, like Raskin, Al Green, Khanna, Sanders, AOC, Warren, Whitehouse, Sherrod Brown who is running again . . . but they need ALL OF CONGRESS TO JOIN THEM IN TAKING TRUMP OUT! Many people are applying to Canada and other countries to get out of here. Who can blame them? Other than just ignoring what is happening and determining to live life peacefully, quietly and joyfully on one's own, even trying to participate in political life has become a prescription for mental disaster. No wonder so many people are turning to self-sedation thru drugs, and/or suicide. If we don't start appreciating and taking care of this beautiful planet we have been given, Planet Earth is going to have its way with us, through global warming and climate change, and kick out the human species PERMANENTLY. The way "natural" disasters are happening with more and more frequency, do we have even 50 good years left to thrive and survive? Case in point: Colorado just got dumped on with two feet of snow overnight, after an entire winter season of DRY WEATHER AND TEMPS IN THE 80s!!! In my own state, spring/summer has already been here EARLY for more than two whole months! The temps and weather change every three to five days or so, alternating between winter and summer! This is definitely not normal! Mother Earth is just plain tired of us humans, I am surmising! The Earth is wiser than we are, and who can blame it for wanting to be done with us???
Walter, the two worst previously in my opinion were the Dred Scott and Separate but Equal" courts. This one goes beyond racism and corporate favoritism; it is working to take away hard-earned rights that Congress voted to reaffirm unanimously 20 years ago, essentially negating the will of the people, wanting to return to Jim Crow and all its appalling actions. There is nothing positive to say about this SC except that there are three "liberals" who are doing their best to call out their colleagues for their bad behavior and decisions. Kudos to Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson!
In memoriam, VRA, here is epitaph or clarion, Charles Laughton (as an immigrant!) has by heart The Gettysburg Address: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-dplflem8
It was a security breach. A ballroom will not change anything.
1850?
1857 to be precise -- the Dred Scott Decision.
The fools are blind---
First, whoever is in charge over there has succeeded in depleting our stores of advanced weaponry by a good 50% in just a little over 30 days, and what did it accomplish? Nothing that will affect the fighting ability and resolve of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Iran's ground forces number in the area of roughly 900,000 well equipped, well trained, and experienced fighters. Iran has been termed by military experts as being a "Natural fortress." Attacking that country with ground forces would result in a blood bath history will not soon forget. Trump hasn't dealt any strategic blow to Iran that they can't replace in short order due to their vast wealth. Everything Trump has destroyed so far equates to little more than pawns being removed from a chess board. There is only one way to remove Iran as a nuclear threat, and no amount of posturing with huge explosions can alter that fact. To do the job --we have to be there --in the sand, for there is no other way to neutralize that country's destructive intentions. Every last vestige of Iran's Uranium enrichment program has got to be destroyed. Just handing us the nuclear material we seek is meaningless--they'll just make more. Something Iran seems to love--a "Slow-Poke"--an all day sucker...and Trump fits the bill perfectly. Hegseth is full of it, he wasn't even a decent talk show host. Mr. Trump, the truth is anything but treasonous, so far we aren't winning anything.
Iran would not have been enriching uranium past 20% if Trump had not torn up Obama‘s agreement with them. (Correction: It was 3-4%, not 20%.) Nine countries signed the agreement, including Iran. They agreed not to enrich for weapons. They also agreed that they would have international inspectors check that they were sticking to the agreement.
The agreement was to last 15 years. After that, the same nations would decide whether Iran could have loosened sanctions against them. Up to 20% enrichment (correction: 3-4%)would have allowed them to create nuclear energy for their country. But it takes about 90% enrichment to create a bomb or other weapon. So the 20% (edit: 3-4%) was far below what they could’ve done to create a weapon and they were sticking with this agreement.
Two years after it was signed Trump came along and ripped it up. He did not like that Obama had initiated the agreement. He does not like the Black president and tries to do anything he can to cancel out any agreements.
So what happened? As soon as the sanctions were lifted, Iran decided that they could go ahead with their weapons enrichment. So really all of this brouhaha about Iran being able to enrich uranium for weapons is Donald Trump’s fault. Then he goes in and accuses Iran of making enrichment for weapons, and that’s the reason he went to attack them.
So let’s reiterate. He tore up the agreement which Iran had been sticking with. Iran reacted by saying that they would go ahead and enrich for weapons now that the agreement was canceled. Now Trump is angry because Iran is enriching for nuclear weapons. Actually, Trump should be pointing the finger at himself. He created this situation, and now he is pretending that Iran was doing this all along. They were not. Try to make that make sense.
If you don’t believe me, then look it up for yourself. Google is your friend.
Can someone PLEASE provide clarification!? (Perhaps yourself, Donna?)
So, Trump's Mean Girls face will be on all our passports.
AND a passport may be the ONLY identification accepted to vote...if SAVE corruption has its way.
But doesn't the LAW say that politicking is ILLEGAL at a voting location?
So, how can you vote by showing a passport, incl. Trump's ugly mug, w/o breaking the law!!!?!?
He doesn't care about rules and such. He just wants his name and face on everything!
just like a Roman emperor!
Indeed, Jan!
Experts have determined that Trump would have been far richer by investing in almost any guaranteed, low-interest investment.
probably, but what is wealth for? For Trump and many of his supporters wealth is a means to power and high status. This is why the perceive a wealth tax such a threat.
Nobody said he was GOOD at it, foofaraw &...
ARF to Chiquita (I assume ARF means she agrees).
foof, it's a few passports for Washington, DCrs, not for all passports, I think I heard, for the 250th anniversary commemoration.
Having trump as our president does not make me even want to celebrate such a great anniversary. It may end up being the time that America started it's steep decline in honor and honesty!
The day Trump was first elected was the start of America's "steep decline" not just in honor and honesty but in world leadership, justice, care for the needy everywhere, and we will all regret the stupidity of voters who foolishly thought this clown in a suit was the answer to their problems.
More proof that the steep decline in morality and in being an informed educated voter began before Rump. It just manifest in His election (which I capitalize b/c He thinks he's a King or even Jesus). It's sarcasm. What gets me is the depth of the ignorance, and lack of intelligence at such a mass scale. Someone enabled this guy. Not only once, but twice. I clearly recall the first time and the mess it created. Even my wife who is not a college graduate, can't fathom how people could vote for Him knowing He is a felon. She also cannot fathom women supporting Him, knowing His history on that. She does not follow news that closely, but knew this aside from anything I told her. So the election wasn't the start of the steep decline, it was just proof thereof, of something that had been festering for a long time.
It is easy to feel discouraged. We must celebrate what the country stood for back in 1776. People obviously need reminding.
Yes, only those passports issued by the Washington DC office. They're intended to be keepsakes. Or maybe dart boards?
uggh I want to vomit.
Correct, if they hold to that. I need to renew mine, and I don't want that horrendous image on mine for the next ten years. I hope for no surprise, and by mail, I get one of the standard ones.
I'm curious, because I don't live in the US, how much does a passport cost? My fear is that a lot of people can't afford it, or just won't bother.
That's the whole point, Dorothy.
Trump/MAGA/GOP would be FAR happier if ONLY people with the resources to travel internationally were allowed to vote. (Much like a land-owning requirement for Americans to be "allowed" to vote.)
I've never had a passport, and I don't have your answer now either. I'm sorry, Dorothy.
If Americans want to move to France, for example, you need to show France your sources of income and wealth, so you won't be a financial burden on that nation. If Americans want to move to another town, another country, they will find it difficult to be accepted into their communities of choice.
It's somewhere around $130, and if you also want the passport card, and I usually do both at the same time, it's an additional $30. Give or take a few dollars.
That may be true, but those few people still deserve to be able to cast a vote.
(Actually, this makes sense, Klare, in a Trumpian/1984 kind of way. Trump would be happier if NO ONE in DC was able to cast a vote!)
What I'm anxiously anticipating is the opportunity to take a black sharpie to redact his name from dollar bills.
I have just renewed my passport to avoid getting the trump face following me wherever I may travel. Do it now before the ruling becomes fixed if you qualify and do it immediately.
Good idea, Beryl!
But I suspect that would just put my name and likeness on yet ANOTHER list of "undesirables". Or worse, I may have already been "NSPM-7ed", and I just don't know it yet. (Not joking even a little.)
I don't have a passport and have never needed one. Until now ? WTF?
I can't afford even the cheapest version. + having signed SO MANY anti-T(you know who) petitions, I suspect I, too, am on their 'hit list' ~ gak
Take good care of Chiquita and your kitty ! My feline companion passed away before Xmas 2024 and I miss him - still ~
There is one thing that very few seem to take note of that has extreme lasting effects. That is the destruction of history with all of the bombs that have been dropped and will continue to be dropped if trump does as he threatens. In this he is following the Netanyahu way of getting even--bomb bomb bomb and destroy the entire civilization that you feel superior to. Don't even look to history in the area that is filled with so much cultural and religious history--just bomb to get your way.
Donna, great synopsis. Thank you. The only thing is, I believe I heard in a discussion/report on NPR this week that they were actually up to 60% enrichment, not just 20%, because the expert speaking and being interviewed added that 60% is not that far from 90%.
I was wrong. Iran was restricted to only 3-4% enrichment under the agreement, not 20%. Since the agreement was torn up, they've been doing 60%. So, that's probably what NPR was referring to.
Donna--Yes he did---
By threatening war against Iran Trump empowered Iran's extremists. This is how authoritarianism works. It always leads to war.
tRump is perpetually guilty of reverse causation. Here's an example:
A) he stabs someone, repeatedly;
B) they scream out in pain;
C) he's asked "Why did you stab him?";
D) he answers "Because he screamed!"
The lack of critical thinking ability, the lack of insightful journalists who could analyze these things and provide good insights to help people make decisions, all this prevents us from calling tRump out for all his B.S.
Right on, Donna. Please share your post with members of the mainstream media; they seem to have forgotten all this.
Well said! Trump is such a child. The problem is, he is a child playing with very dangerous weapons!
Asymmetrical warfare is a bitch! Hegseth's Pentagon is a joke -- all we need is another trillion dollars!
Hey, to paraphrase Everett Dirksen, "a trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money." Of course he was being facetious and the number he used was "billion" not trillion. What happened to all those fiscally conservative Republicans who loved to berate "tax and spend Democrats?"
Yeah, who's the King of Big Spenders now? And whose Party members chant "Woo-Hoo, more tax cuts!" Every. Single.Time. they have the votes to pass a bill making life cushier for the high-income types? It's the descendants of those 1950's gray flannel-suited Republicans!
Raise taxes on those who can afford it, adjust the Social Security Pay Cap; stop the bleeding, start reducing the National Debt to a manageable level NOW before our government's insatiable desire for more debt sinks us and the rest of humanity into an economic depression that makes WWII look like a garden party.
Our nation celebrates its 250th birthday this year. Over that entire time, America has never defaulted on its financial obligations. How long can we continue with such feckless imbeciles in Congress and the Supreme Court? Obviously, Trump and his coterie of clownish incompetents have got to go.
The Republican Party will never recover its mojo while its leaders kow-tow to MAGAts, conservative Evangelicals and Christian Nationalists, and the Musk/Bezos et al billionaire cabal.
Absolutely. However, I fear by the time Trump actually leaves office (IF he leaves office) the Republican ass-kissers will have so skewered the voting system that more and more Americans will be disenfrachised; our state and national legislative districts will be so gerrymandered no legitimate candidate can win; the middle class will be so financially stressed and struggling they may feel powerless and give up; big money will have so loaded the system in favor of the "over-lords" that democracy will be effectively finished.
The prospect of a second American Revolution is unappealing, but if that is what it takes for a thorough cleansing of our system of government, then I would be in favor of it, but I do not believe such a drastic action will be called for, as I retain my belief in the essential goodness of character possessed by the American people.
From reading and observing MAGA statements -- from the sidelines, admittedly -- I gather that they carry grievances against our system and society in general, as they see it, which have not been properly dealt with through the normal means of government action, and so they are searching for some means of effecting change. They feel attracted to and ultimately empowered by Trump because "he is no ordinary politician."
The common folk having been bamboozled by the flood of lies and propaganda of the Right have seized on the idea that they are the victims of a great fraud perpetrated by the Right's enemies -- these being any political figure or personage of the Left (meaning all who espouse ideas not contained in the orthodoxy of that strain of Rightist thought) -- and are taught by example and rote repetition to believe what the propagandists have fed them.
It will take a huge revolution in thought for these people, who have been seduced by the drug of Trumpism to believe him, though he is merely a skillful showman, mesmerizing the masses, selling the snake oil poison of "only I can save America" and other kinds of nonsense.
The Republican Party exists in name only. It is fascist, not republican.
We fear the real prize these seditious politicians are promised is a share of our privatized Medicare/Social Security funds collected from our paychecks, our prepaid promise they dare patronize as benefits.
But Trump told us that he had totally destroyed their unranium as well as the resources to create more! Did he lie to us? (sarcasm)
Jan--He most certainly did Ollie---
Trump and the MAGA extremists have legitimized extremism everywhere, especially in Iran. The collapse of American liberalism and democracy is a world wide tragedy. The world may not survive it.
Victor--Everything swings in one form of rhythm or another. The pendulum doesn't always express the true feelings of the people. Time stands as the consummate thief--for it will eventually rob us of everything.
There is a very brief moment in the swinging pendulum in which it seems that it might stop between the swings. If it did, the whole clock would be worthless. That brief moment is the moment of our life spans. It exists because of the momentum the pendulum carries. We owe our lives to that momentum. Celebrate the clock, don't lament the briefness of time--it's a gift!.
Victor--That it is my friend, that it is.
At what point do we accept that the government we thought we had is busted beyond Repair?
Never!
If something is busted and we don't acknowledge it, can we fix it?
Nope.
Germany was busted beyond repair after 1945. In 1949 West Germany was founded and quickly became an economic miracle. I'm sure the US can do the same.
It depends on what you mean by "busted," Marc.
Yup, without a doubt. Roberts should be reminded of his words long ago wherein he stated that the Supreme Court was not a political entity. Now it’s the supreme asshole’s private law firm.
Roberts is a crook. He should die in jail.
Colin, amen, amen, amen, amen to that! I constantly refer to him as the pansy ass! It's too bad we can't call them, like we can the other departments and branches of the federal gov't., or I'd be on the phone daily to them, giving them a piece of my mind!
This is horrible to say, but I wish we could bring back lynching, for one person and one person only -- Clarence, uglier-than-shit Thomas!!!
Actually, doesn't G.B. practice hanging as a form of capital punishment? And didn't WE hang Saddam Hussein??? So I guess my comment isn't so bad, after all.
Hello Klare, The UK used to hang murderers, but it was abolished in the 1960s. Now they get an automatic life sentence, which in practice means they are released when the Parole board thinks it is safe to release them. Saddam was tried by the new Iraqi administration and hanged. Nothing to do with the US or us.
I think three landmark cases where innocent suspects were hanged. changed things. I know a judge at our local golf club who said that he supported the change. There is nothing more horrible than hanging an innocent.
Thank you, Colin, for the update and information. I can recall the scenario of Saddam being hanged, with him telling us (and U.S.) that we would be sorry, I think it was. Probably because he had control of his country, because there were no weapons of mass destruction, and because of the rise of Isis, both in Iraq and worldwide. When Sadam was in control, neither Al Quida (alquaida sp?) OR Isis were allowed into Iraq! Bush-Cheney sure botched all of that!
I know I say what are considered terrible things (make terrible comments), but it assuages my anger!
Klare -- As I recall, it was the Iraqi government which tried and executed Saddam Hussein, despite American objections.
R Hodson, thank you for the correction. SO much has happened since our botched attack on Iraq (when we should have gone after Saudi Arabia, as 15 of the hijackers came from there!!!), it is difficult to remember the details from 23 years ago (wasn't it?).
Well, at least a) it was the Iraqi judicial system which pronounced the penalty, not a bunch of militiamen who just shot him as he came out of hiding, like Libyans did to Gaddhafi, and b) the US did not hang him, shoot him, or put him on trial.
Professor Reich and Heather Lofthouse: sadly, there are so many crimes being committed by the orange rapist and his regime that you were unable to even talk about his attacks, his WAR on american culture and nature! oil drilling has commenced on sacred treaty lands in the Black Hills
https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/drilling-has-begun-at-our-sacred-site-pe-sla-setting-a-dangerous-precedent-for-indigenous-lands-across-the-country-it-must-be-stopped-opinion
glyphosate (an herbicide and likely human carcinogen) is being dumped on our national forests to murder all the trees and plants
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2026/04/roundup-glyphosate-spraying-forests-monsanto-science-retraction-cancer-health-concerns-maha-trump-executive-order-supreme-court-bayer-lawsuits/
and the orange rapist and his regime have removed access to HIV/AIDS drugs from the entire nation of zambia because he wants all their mineral wealth and they won't give it to him:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/2026/03/us-pressure-zambia-shows-western-aid-has-become-nakedly-transactional
the damage that this regime of greedy bastards is doing to our nation and to its standing in the world is irreparable. the damage that the orange rapist and his regime and his mindless drooling gaggle of MAGA freaks will harm this nation and its peoples forever. we will never recover and we will deserve giant evil stain on our name and reputation.
HI Girl Scientist, Just listen to the Youtube vid above and just ask your self if this guy is fit for anything, let alone POTUS.
Trump will be taken out, GrrlScientist, never fear . . . Just you wait and see! NOTHING THAT EVIL CAN LONG SURVIVE!
i worry that his regime of evil will outlive him.
GrrlScientist, as I was saying to my brother last night, we MUST resign ourselves that our generation(s) is having to now do what our parents had to do during WWII in the late '30s/'40s. Only we can't be like the people of Nazi Germany, allowing Hitler to take over and murder with abandon. WE MUST TAKE CONTROL NOW AND DEMAND TRUMP'S OUSTER UNTIL THOSE TO BLAME FOR ALL OF THIS (PROJECT 2025rs) HEED OUR DEMANDS AND WARNINGS!!! I don't know you, but you sound like you are super well-educated, so I am a little bit disappointed in you for your fears. Buck up, girl . . . Get some GUTS!!
The Supreme Court is no longer supreme
Apart from the Warren Era the Supreme Court has always sided with the rich and powerful, manipulating the law to both protect and further their interests. If, in the future, someone writes an honest history of the High Court, John Roberts will be held in even lower regard than either Roger Taney or Melville Fuller. No other Chief Justice has presided over a Court that was has been so destructive to the basic fabric of American democracy on so many levels as John Roberts. Frighteningly there appears to be no end in sight to what this horrible person and the miserable cohort he is part of is going to do to this country.
Don't give up. Read the Constitution, line by line, paragraph by paragraph. We need a CHANGE in the Supreme Court. Our Founders didn't think about the fact that these individuals that were to be the protectors of our Democracy, would be BOUGHT. Change is essential for the future protection of all of us. We the people, need to make that change happen.
This is the burning question: who can stand Trump? It isn't a question, anymore, is he crooked, evil and sick. The question is, what is going on with the people who can't see it, and are still cheering? A sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-dplflem8 This speech was like Bill Murray playing The Lounge Lizard, and (thankfully not some huge crowd) who was going along out there, instead of asking themselves, wait, this is the POTUS?
Just watched this. He should taken away by the guys in White coats. We used to go a music event years ago in Liverpool. An tramp would walk in and start making noises that made no sense. Trump is more articulate, but even crazier. He is more deranged and excruciating to listen to. When he's gone we should all praise God that we never have to listen to him again.
Could someone please promise me that when that POS is no longer a part of our government that every gaudy crappy thing he had done to Our House will be completely removed? Please someone promise me that and I will stop crying every single time I see a picture of the horrible tacky things he has done without any approval at all! It sickens and disgust me and the hate I feel grows! I am so disgusted by the supreme court! I hate what they have done and I would love to see all six of them thrown out! We have already fought for civil rights! All of the hard work for civil rights has been demolished! Now we have to start again from square one and it is so damn wrong! You damn confederate racists lost the war! Suck it up Buttercup! You can go right on hating people of color all you want, but you simply cannot make the rest of us feel that way. All you have succeeded in doing is given us more of a reason to fight this god-awful regime and taking our country back. I am through with even trying to understand maga! All of you need to crawl back under your stupid rocks, slink back into the woodwork and damn well stay there! Republicans will be remembered for all of this for years to come. They will be remembered for trying, but not succeeding, in destroying our country. Since that orange turd has come on the scene and given republicans permission to show their ugliness, cruelty and inhumanity, the crazies have taken over! With so many news outlets spewing lies, misinformation and propaganda, many people are beginning to think what they are saying is what they are supposed to believe! With all of this shit going on, I will simply double down! I will work harder than ever to get my candidates elected. I will NEVER GIVE UP! I will NEVER SURRENDER! Keep fighting, America! Stay strong and stay safe!
Yes. We’ll tear it all down or at least the majority of it- just as the Allied forces, and then the German people dismantled the Nazi flags, statues, pictures, and as many of the grotesque monuments as were reasonable to destroy. It’ll be a long process.
Thank you so much, William! That is what I needed to hear this morning! I am glad that I am not the only one who wants to see every single bit of it torn down! All of his golden crap destroyed! When our children study about this period in history, I hope with all of my heart, they will learn valuable lessons from the mistakes we have made! Thanks again, William!
In my view, the de-cartelization of the German industrial economy that under pinned and fueled the war, was done mostly by the American occupation government was as important, if not more so, than the removal of symbols of the regime. This was not an easy task and was somewhat incomplete, but it was done under and by an occupation government. Laurel at Balancecraft has a great series on this.
Peggy -- Thanks for your energy, candor and commitment. So encouraging.
Always, R Hodsdon! We need everyone in this fight! Yes, people are tired. They are wrung out, but fight on we must! This is our country and we simply cannot let it fall to an authoritarian regime hell bent on taking away all of our rights and liberties! I want our future generations to say we stood up and did every single thing we could to keep our America!
‘Shiftiest’ is better
Christopher Armitage - author, researcher and writer on substack - just filed a motion to disbar Roberts, based on Roberts' repeated written lies about his family income and his consistent failures to recuse himself from cases where there is every appearance of a conflict of interest.
Any US citizen can also request Roberts' disbarment. The more, the merrier --- and the more embarrassing for Roberts, a man so concerned about leaving his mark on US history.
Read all about it.
https://cmarmitage.substack.com/p/i-filed-for-robertss-disbarment-then
The Roberts Court still has a lot of power, but it has lost its legitimacy. This Court must be dissolved as a first step to restore its authority.
Descendants of the deciders of Dredd Scott.
This is a very hateful administration
Trump desecrated the White House by destroying the West Wing and now he wants to utterly Trumpify it.
Nero had a better taste for buildings.
Some thoughts - The matter of the US Supreme Court was not addressed in the US Constitution. Kind of odd when you think about it. I don’t really understand why this is. I would like to know more.
To me, over time I saw the number of 5/4 votes as a warning sign that something wasn’t working.
I would like a Supreme Court that looks like the composition of the ICJ justices.
“Appointments to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) are governed by the Statute of the International Court of Justice, which requires that judges be elected based on merit, character, and legal expertise rather than nationality, though no two judges can be from the same state. As of 2026, the 15 judges serve nine-year terms.” I think 15 is a good number.
Some have suggested a 18-year term limit. I think nine years is long enough since in any case lifetime appointments did not help shield the justices from undue partisan influences and corrupt practices.
Other countries have various appointment methods to avoid over-politicized courts. Why can’t we learn from that?
The Constitution was written for the world of 1791. It badly needs a rewrite....the sooner the better.
That is true. However, the scary part of opening that door that is who is going to rewrite the constitution - the oligarchy?
They certainly would try.
The Republicans who have majorities in most states.
I believe the process is more complex than simple majorities.
The Constitution has served the country well for over 200 years. Don't forget that all your rights depend on it. State-rights advocates hate it. Are you with them?
I don't want to go back to the Articles of Confederation......
I was thinking more along these lines: https://constitutioncenter.org/news-debate/special-projects/constitution-drafting-project/the-progressive-constitution/introduction-to-the-progressive-constitution
Of course we've never had a Constitutional Convention Could be interesting.
"May you live in interesting times" is a Chinese curse.
Of course .....what would be the point otherwise?
Could it be possible that the English SC didn't play as big a role in the 18th century as it does in our 21st century? Where our SC is using 'originalism'. which didn't exist in England at that time, to send us back there ? btw, no number is a good number if Originalism is allowed to infect the Court's rulings. and bbtw, IMO the problem is the selection process, not the number selected.
I agree about the originalism. I believe that some of the founders might have also agreed for the most part. They probably expected us to wisely do something about the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. As far as Bentham, he wasn't crazy about common law along with the Bill of Rights. Bentham, a utilitarian wanted less idealism and more codification in terms of acting on idealism. The basic problem, which is showing up in the partisan SCOTUS and in events today, is that every day people have little idea about what the crime is. It is called Dog Law.
I'm not familiar with that term. What is 'Dog Law" in this context?
I hope my take on things makes some sense. First of all the US Supreme Court has exceeded its jurisdiction. We saw this in Bush v. Gore. This has encourage Dog Law. Which is to kick a dog for a crime it didn’t know was a crime.
With dog law you are not punished before the facts but for crimes you don’t
understand. When the courts are no longer easily understood by people dog law comes into play (access to voting, loss of first amendment rights, death and loss due to a controlling and greedy marketplace, and so on).
Dog law is related to the behavior of the Supreme Court. Its job is to decide cases and controversy. Its decision is based on a system that defines law in controversial terms and one side or the other wins (where there is a better way regarding this adversarial system, but that is another story). Anyway, its job is not to make law. It can’t pontificate. It can’t issue declaratory judgments. So, when you hear what is a “declaratory” statement - to paraphrase…everything is fine so you don’t need Section 11 anymore, huh, that nullification is essentially dog law. It is a deterrent based on values dictated by the majority of the Court. Consequently, when you look at the effects where some states follow its recent gerrymandering ruling you see a domino effect ; a parade of horribles where justice goes out the window due to SCOTUS ignoring the facts, the judgement of lower courts and the understanding of people, now severed from the Court. Its behavior, including its shadow dockets where law is further obscured, is a compelling call to action to reform the Court.
Also, I think we’ve seen, given statements by the majority, coming out of the Court , that it is a very lazy court. Its misinformation regarding history shows it doesn’t do its homework.
Regarding greed, I don’t know how this all is going to turn out in terms of humanity. I just rely on the good of people I know and pockets of inspiration in the world.
Thanks for your explanation about Dog Law. It certainly makes sense. Its apparent this court has its own agenda and are looking at every case that comes before it to insert their legal version in spite of what's come before They are no longer a legitimate court and the public sees that.
AI will revolutionize the legal profession, the judiciary included. There no longer is a need for long-term serving justices. Two-three years shuold suffice.
Certainly not for life. Again, men didn't live all that long in the 18th century so life-time appointment wasn't such a big deal. Likely most people would feel comfortable with increments of 6 years, like we do with Senators. Maybe 12 Year? 18? But no longer.
In looking at constitutional reforms globally a major struggle right now given climate change is between undue marketplace ambitions and intergenerational equity. We need to refocus the notion of property rights and articulate human rights and public trust meanings. We also need to focus less on procedural dictates and consider merit based claims. Perhaps this means exploring a living constitution. So, it isn't just that the US Supreme Court needs an overhaul, it is our values and how we want to express them. Jeremy Bentham critiqued our bill of rights with good reason.
Its really just that ages old human condition Greed.
yes...how shitty a life Roberts has led since the days of shoving his head up bush s shitter his goal has been what he achieved...to gut the voting rights act...why a man would be so awful a retrorrgade brain bigot to do this is more for future if there is one historians but undoing it and preventing pricks from doing such terrible things is an immediate concern
SJOCR, Amen, amen, amen, amen to that!!!