Thank you for your valuable insights (and links) into how corrupt justices have corrupted one of our most important institutions! But I think that what we are seeing isn't merely political, it's criminal, and some justices need to be held accountable. I've previously provided some elaboration, so I'll just provide links now.
I was coming in to reading this post after having been buoyed by the discovery of this piece from 2021 that described the extraordinary work to build infrastructure to help save the integrity of the 2020 election process. https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
It has been obvious that if the election results go to the Supreme Court, Roberts will lead the charge to give the Presidency to Trump and take from the rest of us the last vestiges of Democracy. I don't feel buoyed anymore, but do feel even more committed to working now and forever to preserve and defend the benefits of democracy. I have been listening these last few days to "The World of Yesterday, Memoirs of a European" by Stefan Zweig. Can't recommend it highly enough for the exquisite prose, and also for the surreal, painful connections to our own experiences on its pages, 82 years after publication. May we all be united in hope and action to prevent even more similarities.
Committed. Yes. I read this while also watching Yom Kippur morning services - in belief (rationalization?) that what I call my “Justice Judaism” permits thinking and pondering on this day and ever. Having demonstrated at SCOTUS every day of the 2000 hearing to determine the Presidency, it is all that + the current Court that scares me. I will do all I can to ensure an overwhelming vote for Harris/Walz so that we, the people have the final say. I know the potential reality yet I hope for democracy and this Republic to stand; that the people will show sense and the bought & paid for Justices, should it come to them, remember their oaths.
Nothing about this is surprising, but it’s pretty effin terrifying that these guys play on a completely different field than the rest of America, which naively assumes there’s actually something we can do about this. Those rich bastards won at Citizens United, and they know it. We are doomed.
I understood that Citizens United essentially went on to say that “people” have the right to “speech” and that corporations are also “people” and have the corresponding right to “speech,” which, in this particular case was money. Did I get that wrong? Did CU not lead to a flood of unregulated dark money in our political system? Is this not where Mr. Leo and his wealthy ideologue pals get the right to give practically unlimited money to the candidates most likely to do their bidding? Have I been completely misinformed?
Fair enough. Just don't forget that even in Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), there was something for the rest of us. SCOTUS (in an opinion in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito joined) emphasized that in our “republic” clearly “the people are sovereign” and “the ability of the citizenry to make informed choices” about public servants and public issues “is essential.” “Speech is an essential mechanism of democracy, for it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people.” “The right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it.” Thinking and speaking about our government is the primary purpose of government (and even the primary point of sovereignty).
Thank you for your valuable insights (and links) into how corrupt justices have corrupted one of our most important institutions! But I think that what we are seeing isn't merely political, it's criminal, and some justices need to be held accountable. I've previously provided some elaboration, so I'll just provide links now.
Fake Originalists' Frivolous Lies about Judges' Right to Life Tenure https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/fake-originalists-frivolous-lies?r=30ufvh
The Nexus between Black-Collar Crime and Presidential Crime https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/the-nexus-between-black-collar-crime?r=30ufvh
The Nexus between Black-Collar Crime and Presidential Crime (Part II)
https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/the-nexus-between-black-collar-crime-a30?r=30ufvh
The Nexus between Black-Collar Crime and Presidential Crime (Part III) https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/the-nexus-between-black-collar-crime-22f?r=30ufvh
SCOTUS Justices' Own Words Prove Extreme Deceit (and Irrelevance) of Trump Immunity Decision (Part I) https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/scotus-justices-own-words-prove-extreme?r=30ufvh
SCOTUS Justices' Own Words Prove Extreme Deceit (and Irrelevance) of Trump Immunity Decision (Part II) https://blackcollarcrime.substack.com/p/scotus-justices-own-words-prove-extreme-b67?r=30ufvh
Thank you for the links.
I was coming in to reading this post after having been buoyed by the discovery of this piece from 2021 that described the extraordinary work to build infrastructure to help save the integrity of the 2020 election process. https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
It has been obvious that if the election results go to the Supreme Court, Roberts will lead the charge to give the Presidency to Trump and take from the rest of us the last vestiges of Democracy. I don't feel buoyed anymore, but do feel even more committed to working now and forever to preserve and defend the benefits of democracy. I have been listening these last few days to "The World of Yesterday, Memoirs of a European" by Stefan Zweig. Can't recommend it highly enough for the exquisite prose, and also for the surreal, painful connections to our own experiences on its pages, 82 years after publication. May we all be united in hope and action to prevent even more similarities.
Committed. Yes. I read this while also watching Yom Kippur morning services - in belief (rationalization?) that what I call my “Justice Judaism” permits thinking and pondering on this day and ever. Having demonstrated at SCOTUS every day of the 2000 hearing to determine the Presidency, it is all that + the current Court that scares me. I will do all I can to ensure an overwhelming vote for Harris/Walz so that we, the people have the final say. I know the potential reality yet I hope for democracy and this Republic to stand; that the people will show sense and the bought & paid for Justices, should it come to them, remember their oaths.
Nothing about this is surprising, but it’s pretty effin terrifying that these guys play on a completely different field than the rest of America, which naively assumes there’s actually something we can do about this. Those rich bastards won at Citizens United, and they know it. We are doomed.
I understood that Citizens United essentially went on to say that “people” have the right to “speech” and that corporations are also “people” and have the corresponding right to “speech,” which, in this particular case was money. Did I get that wrong? Did CU not lead to a flood of unregulated dark money in our political system? Is this not where Mr. Leo and his wealthy ideologue pals get the right to give practically unlimited money to the candidates most likely to do their bidding? Have I been completely misinformed?
Fair enough. Just don't forget that even in Citizens United v. FEC, 558 U.S. 310 (2010), there was something for the rest of us. SCOTUS (in an opinion in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito joined) emphasized that in our “republic” clearly “the people are sovereign” and “the ability of the citizenry to make informed choices” about public servants and public issues “is essential.” “Speech is an essential mechanism of democracy, for it is the means to hold officials accountable to the people.” “The right of citizens to inquire, to hear, to speak, and to use information to reach consensus is a precondition to enlightened self-government and a necessary means to protect it.” Thinking and speaking about our government is the primary purpose of government (and even the primary point of sovereignty).
Just commenting to churn the algorithm. Gotta get moving.