15th Amendment

“Originalism” And “Textualism”: The Battle For The Future Of Constitutional Government Against The Late 18th Century!

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The battle over how to interpret the Constitution in the 21st century is in full swing, with the extremist right wing Supreme Court majority emphasizing “Originalism” and “Textualism” as their basic ideological doctrine!

They want America to be judged by late 18th century interpretations, which means they challenge Alexander Hamilton and his “broad” interpretation of the Constitution.

Hamilton emphasized a broad interpretation, not a strict interpretation, of the Constitution, saying it needed to be a living document.

Even Thomas Jefferson, the original ideological opponent of Hamilton, came to recognize that Hamilton was correct, and so backed away from his original strict intepretation to support the Louisiana Purchase deal with France in 1803, doubling US territory and insuring that no other foreign power would gain further control in North America.

If one is to judge the Constitution by “originalism” and “textualism”, then America should not have had the multitude of changes that has made America a democracy, including among others:

Creation of Cabinet Agencies
End of African American Slavery by Amendment 13
Civil Rights Laws And Amendments (14, 15)
Women’s Suffrage (19)
Federal Government Agencies and Regulations
Federal Income Tax Amendment (16)
Democratizing of the US Senate by Amendment 17
Limitation of Presidential Terms by Amendment 22

This battle is over the future as compared to the limitations of the past, and America has come too far to allow the right wing interpretation to dictate the future of the nation!

Essential To Pass Voting Rights Legislation, Which Republicans In Senate Supported Unanimously In 2006!

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Voting Rights legislation is essential if America is to remain a democracy.

The 15th, 19th, 23rd, 24, and 26th Amendments guarantee voting rights, as did the Voting Rights Act of 1965, passed as part of the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Supreme Court in 2013 weakened the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County V Holder, and have caused the deterioration of voting rights, now accelerated by many states in the South and Midwest and Mountain West creating all kinds of restrictions, designed to prevent minority groups, the elderly, college students, and the disabled from ability to vote.

This MUST be reversed by dropping the filibuster and allowing “reconciliation” to be used to insure voting rights are restored to what they were.

The shocking thing about this whole matter is that the Republican party unanimously supported renewal of the Voting Rights Act in 2006 under the Presidency of Republican George W. Bush! The vote was 98-0, so therefore, there is no excuse for Republican opposition other than they have allowed their party to be hijacked by Donald Trump and his supporters.

But it is still hard to believe that at least some Republican senators–such as Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and others who voted to convict Donald Trump, and also those Republican Senators retiring in 2022, should by their consience, if they have one, support the voting rights legislation promoted now–the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom To Vote Act.

Nineteen states have passed 34 restrictive laws, which would be negated by passage of the above two proposed laws. Meanwhile, 25 states have passed 62 expansive laws, and the right to vote should be the same in every state, so action to overcome restrictions is essential!

Theodore Roosevelt 163rd Anniversary Of His Birth At Time Of Destruction Of His Reform Efforts

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Theodore Roosevelt, the second greatest Republican President (after Abraham Lincoln), born on this day in 1858, represented progressive reform, the use of the federal government to promote and monitor political and economic reform.

He saw the danger of unbridled capitalism, and the need to recognize labor rights.

He saw the need for political reforms, bringing government closer to its citizens, through the utilization of direct primaries, initiatives, referendums, the recall method, women’s suffrage, and proposals to modify the powers of the Supreme Court and the life term of its membership.

He wanted limits on outside groups spending on political campaigns, which he saw as undermining American democracy.

He was the heroic promoter of the environment, regarded as the greatest President on conservation of natural resources, and the promotion of the expansion of national parks and monuments.

He was the first President to suggest the need for a national health care program, and so much of his agenda on social and economic reform came about with the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson, and now, Joe Biden wishes to extend what TR first promoted more than a century ago!

His 1912 Progressive (Bull Moose) Party had a platform that makes it seem more like 2012, and he still represents the Republican Party at its best since the time of Abraham Lincoln, and particularly as compared to now. The Republicans have become a Fascist authoritarian party that is undermining American democracy, and working to limit the right to vote despite the various constitutional amendments (15, 19, 23, 24, 26) to insure that right, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

TR was certainly imperfect, as he promoted white supremacy typical of his time, and was imperialistic in his treatment of Latin America, as well as his promotion of an expansion of the military, but it is clear he would repudiate the Republican Party of the 2020s.

And notice how the Republican Party glorifies Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, NOT Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt!

Voting Rights Extension 2006: 98-0 In Senate! Voting Rights Extension 2021–Rejected By Republicans!

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Today is the 10th Anniversary of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington DC.

It is very clear what Martin Luther King Jr. would say if he was alive today–total anger at what the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln, has done–to work to destroy the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 under Lyndon B. Johnson, and reaffirmed as recently as 2006, under President George W. Bush, when the US Senate voted 98-0 to renew it, with full backing of the Republican President and his party unanimously.

But now, in the age of Donald Trump and a Republican Party morphing into the old segregationist Southern Democratic Party from Reconstruction times to the 1960s, we are stunned to see not one Republican Senator—not even Mitt Romney, nor Ben Sasse, nor Lisa Murkowski, nor Susan Collins—willing to vote to overcome the filibuster tactic. This vote was just to consider and discuss and debate a Voting Rights Act to restore the damage done by the US Supreme Court in 2013 in Shelby County V Holder, and by many Southern and Western states legislatures since then, to restrict the right to vote, the bedrock of a democracy!

The Republican Party has lost its credibility completely as a serious alternative conservative party, and now is just a bunch of power seeking, phony so called “religious’ people, who are out to promote white supremacy, nativism and misogyny! They are out to promote election subversion and voter suppression and deny the right to vote to millions of Americans!

The party will not recover long term if it does not abandon Donald Trump now, and there is no sign of that occurring!

Automatic Mail Ballots Should Be Sent By All States To All Voters As A National Law To Insure Voting Rights!

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Nine states and Washington, DC send automatic mail ballots to all eligible voters who reside in their states.

These states include:

California
Colorado
Hawaii
Nevada
New Jersey
Oregon
Utah
Vermont
Washington State
Washington, DC

There is no viable reason why voters have to show up in person to vote, as long as they are registered and live in the state they reside in.

Such a system of mail in voting boosts voting, particularly of poor people, racial minorities, the disabled, members of the military, and the elderly.

Voting rights were guaranteed over time, and then added to by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, along with Constitutional amendments 15, 19, 23, 24, and 26, and so therefore, there should be ZERO boundaries for voting!

If we are to remain a democracy, this needs to become a national law that goes into effect by the Presidential Election of 2024, if not earlier with the Midterm Congressional Elections of 2022!

56th Anniversary Of Voting Rights Act, Now A Major Crisis Of American Democracy!

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On this day in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, supported by Democrats, but also a substantial number of Republicans, who understood that voting rights were the central human right in a nation that was a democracy.

It was a reaction against the denial in the former Confederates states of the South to enforce the 15th Amendment of 1870, which gave men of color the right to vote after the Civil War.

Now, America is again in a crisis, as the Supreme Court cut back enforcement of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, in Shelby County V. Holder, and many Republican states are now claiming voter fraud in 2020, when it did not exist, and are passing all kinds of restrictions to prevent minority voters, young voters, and poor people from their constitutional right to vote.

Texas, Georgia, Florida and Arizona, and their crooked, corrupt governors and state legislatures are trying to fix the results of future elections, by making it impossible or extremely difficult for people to vote, and Texas has seen the Democrats in the state legislature for the past month and more, leaving the state and coming to Washington, DC to promote a restoration of the Voting Rights Act.

These Texas Democrats face arrest and possible imprisonment, which should not be permitted, and instead, Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the right wingers in his state and others, should face prosecution for what they are attempting to perpetrate.

H R 1–For the People Act, and H R 4–John Lewis Voting Rights Act, need to be passed into law now!

Voting Rights Repressed In 17 GOP States And Counting, As Joe Biden Gives Strong Speech At The National Constitution Center In Philadelphia!

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Joe Biden gave a stirring speech at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia yesterday, condemning the attack on the most basic right every American should have—-the right to vote.

The 15th, 19th, 23rd, and 26th Amendments, along with the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were designed to insure that no state could deprive anyone who is a citizen and at least 18 years of age, of the right to vote.

But 17 states (Southern and Western and Republican controlled) have made it more difficult for many Americans, particularly young, disabled, poor, or people of color to vote, including the following states:

Florida
Georgia
Alabama
Louisiana
Arkansas
Texas
Oklahoma
Kansas
Iowa
Indiana
Kentucky
Arizona
Utah
Nevada
Wyoming
Idaho
Montana

Republicans currently control both chambers of 30 state legislatures, and the number of states that are attempting to add to this list is alarming.

Texas Democrats have left the state, and face the possibility of arrest and fines when they return, but the idea that this could happen makes the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, practically a dictator of Fascist orientation.

But the Democrats have every right to fight against the authoritarian bent going on in Texas and elsewhere.

The only way to stop this is national legislation, as with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which has now been emasculated by the right wing Supreme Court, which has gone way beyond normal limits.

The John Roberts Court has brought us back to the 1930s!

It is urgent for the Democrats to unite and end the crisis in Texas and elsewhere by passage of (HR 1) For the People Act, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, (HR 4)!

Celebrating The Real Meaning Of July 4–Promotion Of Freedom, Equality, And Democracy!

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Independence Day–July 4–is a holiday to celebrate the promotion of Freedom, Equality, and Democracy!

The 245th Independence Day is a sobering day, as the Republican Party is trying mightily to cover up the Fascist authoritarian attempt of Donald Trump and his treasonous and seditionist supporters to destroy the Constitution and rule of law, as they did on January 6, 2021, with the US Capitol Insurrection.

The Republican Party is also trying to destroy the ability of people of color to vote, something enshrined in the Constitution by the 15th Amendment in 1870, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The right wing Supreme Court, with five of the six conservatives appointed by Presidents who lost the popular vote, and the sixth one (Clarence Thomas) accused of sexual abuse, along with Brett Kavanaugh, has also worked to destroy the Voting Rights Act.

And the danger exists that if one Democratic Senator is unable to vote on any legislative action or were to pass away, the possibility of the Democrats losing control of the Senate to Mitch McConnell is a horrifying reality.

And were Stephen Breyer to continue to ignore the need for his retirement from the Supreme Court, to insure that Joe Biden can select his replacement before the midterm elections, the threat exists that the Republicans then, if not sooner, would gain control of the Senate, and we could face a 7-2 Court, instead of a 6-3 Court!

On this 158th Anniversary of the third and last day of that turning point of the Civil War, the Battle of Gettysburg, the tremendous sacrifices of the three day battle which insured the eventual victory of freedom over slavery, let us NOT forget that the battle to preserve freedom, equality and democracy goes on!

Susan B. Anthony “Pardon” A Total Mockery And Embarrassment, And No Intelligent Woman Would See It As Excusing Trump Misogyny

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One of the most preposterous and ridiculous events occurred yesterday, on the centennial anniversary of the ratification of women suffrage, the 19th Amendment.

President Donald Trump, the all time misogynist in a very public manner, “pardoned” suffragette Susan B. Anthony for her conviction in 1873, for having “illegally” voted in the Presidential election of 1872, since women were not given the suffrage until 1920.

Anthony “broke” the law in protest the fact that the 15th Amendment, added to the Constitution in 1870, gave African American men the right to vote but not women, although the right for African American men would be taken away over time in the “Jim Crow” South, until restored by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Anthony refused to pay the fine of $100, about $2600 in modern times, and the judge did not take any action, and she never was in prison for the so called ‘violation”.

So to “pardon” her over a conviction where she did not pay the fine or go to jail is a total mockery of the idea of pardons, but Trump is infamous for that kind of ridiculous behavior!

One wonders if Trump thinks Susan B. Anthony is still alive, since he seemed to think abolitionist Frederick Douglass was “alive”, when both passed away in 1906 and 1895 respectively! But Donald Trump has no knowledge or sense of history, plus a multitude of many other areas of learning!

One can be sure neither Anthony nor Douglass would give Trump the time of day, so to speak, and would be furious with his racism and misogyny! Anthony made clear in her lifetime that she did not want a pardon, as she felt she had done nothing wrong, so this idea of a posthumous pardon is a pure joke, and historians have already deplored it as a stunt by Trump that is totally out of line!

So this attempt by Trump to try to gain African American or women in large numbers voting for him is totally delusional!

Centennial Of 19th Amendment On August 18, 2020: Time For A Woman VP And Eventually President!

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On August 18, 2020, we will be celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment, giving all women the right to vote.

The battle for women suffrage was a long, hard fought struggle for 72 years, since the first national call for the right to vote for women occurred at the Seneca Falls, New York Equal Rights Convention in 1848.

It took fifty years after the 15th Amendment, giving African American men the right to vote in 1870, before the battle for women, white and nonwhite, to gain that similar right was accomplished, as it was thought to be too extreme and radical after the Civil War, crazy as that is, when one looks back!

It was the work of Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton at the convention, and over the next 72 years, Stanton continued her activism, and was joined in it by such figures as Susan B. Anthony, Carrie Chapman Catt, and Alice Paul.

And the final push for the 19th Amendment came from the first woman to serve in Congress, in the House of Representatives, Republican Jeanette Rankin of Montana.

Now, we will have a woman Vice Presidential nominee, to be announced soon by Joe Biden, and a strong chance that whoever is selected will become the first woman Vice President, and possibly, a future President!