US Supreme Court

Bush One (Clarence Thomas) And Bush Two (Samuel Alito) Justices Are Out Of Control, Abusing Their Positions!

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The Supreme Court yesterday delayed a decision on the FDA approved drug for abortion (Mifepristone) access, sending the case back to the 5th Circuit Court, but with eventual decision by the Supreme Court.

The idea of ending access to a drug approved more than 20 years ago, based on right wing and religious dogma, is infuriating, as there should never have been any challenge to a drug that has been deemed safe and effective for a generation.

It is also disturbing that the two Bush appointees to the Court—Clarence Thomas by George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito by George W. Bush–dissented in the decision to keep the drug operative until later consideration.

Both Thomas and Alito are clearly the most extremist right wing Justices of the past century of time, even more than Antonin Scalia, and Thomas is also corrupt with his abuse of his position to accept gifts and favors from wealthy conservative activists, making him someone who should be impeached and removed from the bench.

These two Justices besmirch the reputation of the Supreme Court. And Alito went further in his dissent on this matter, criticizing three female Justices in the process, including Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and shockingly, Amy Coney Barrett, accusing them of hypocrisy by name!

This gives a potential hint that by so doing this unseemly criticism of the three women justices, that they might, very well, join with Ketanji Brown Jackson (who was not on the Court until ten months ago) and Chief Justice John Roberts, to uphold Mifepristone access long term!

Abe Fortas Resigned In 1969 From Supreme Court, And Clarence Thomas Needs To Do Same In 2023!

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In 1969, Associate Justice Abe Fortas, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1965 by his “good friend”, President Lyndon B. Johnson, resigned, due to an ethics scandal, and accusations that he was too partisan and close to his long time friend.

Fortas had been nominated to replace Chief Justice Earl Warren, but members of his own Democratic Party, as well as opposition Republicans, negated that, and under fire, Fortas retired from the Court after less than four years of service.

Now, 54 years later, we have Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 to replace retiring Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, under fire for much greater ethics violations, with calls for his resignation or impeachment after 32 years on the Supreme Court.

Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, was involved in the promotion of opposition to the counting of the Electoral College votes in the Presidential Election of 2020, and Thomas himself was willing to work to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden as the winner of the Presidency.

Additionally, Thomas has not reported income and real estate dealings with powerful and wealthy right wing promoters, including Harlan Crow, and clearly, Thomas is the most right wing extremist member of the Court, more so in many respects than former Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

Thomas has a “chip on his shoulder”, since the investigation of sexual harrassment against Anita Hill complicated his nomination to the Court in 1991, with the vote for his confirmation being the closest in the 20th century by the US Senate.

He made the statement that he would stay on the Court to double his age at the time, 43, to “confound the damn liberals”, so he was already in 1991 ill qualified to sit on the Court with such a biased view of his role!

It is time after nearly 32 years, and 12th longest service on the Court, for Thomas to leave the Court, which he has stained with his corruption from his nomination until today’s controversies!

The Supreme Court At Its Lowest Public Opinion Rating In Modern Times!

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The US Supreme Court has been part of American government since the passage of the Judiciary Act of 1789.

There have been 17 Chief Justices and a total of 116 Justices, including five who served both as Associate Justices, and as Chief Justice.

We have seen diversity on the Supreme Court in recent times, with two African American men and one African American woman; a Latina woman; six Jewish men and two Jewish women; six women overall; two Italian American Catholics; 15 Catholics overall; and 92 Protestants.

The present Court has four women, and five men, but the Court’s ideological tilt is way far to the right, and it has caused a loss of favorable public opinion toward the Court, with confidence in the fairness and objectivity of the Court at an all time low in public opinion, since polls began in the 1930s.

This is a crisis, and Chief Justice John Roberts, who so much wants a good reputation for the Court which has its name as Chief Justice, has clearly lost control of the agenda of fairness to the hard right nastiness and narrow mindedness of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, each being appointed by the first President Bush and the second President Bush.

The Report on the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization “Leak” is a farce, as the members of the Court were not put under sworn testimony as Court staff was, and no result as to how the leak occurred has been concluded, which seems like a coverup!

This will reflect over time in rankings of the Bush Presidencies, as constitutional law has been distorted by the decision of the Court to reverse abortion rights of nearly 50 years standing, after its members did not indicate in their confirmation hearings that they wished to void the basic right of privacy that has become part of the history of America since the Warren Court of the 1950s and 1960s!

50 Years Since Roe V Wade: The Battle Is Not Over, And Must Continue!

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Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the Roe V Wade Abortion Rights decision, written by a 7-2 majority of the Supreme Court, including five Republican appointments to the Court, including the author of the opinion, Associate Justice Harry Blackmun (appointed by Richard Nixon). Chief Justice Warren Burger, and Associate Justices William Brennan, Potter Stewart, and Lewis Powell joined the majority, along with Democratic appointments William O. Douglas and Thurgood Marshall. The only dissenters were Democratic appointment Byron White and Republican William Rehnquist.

After a half century, one would have thought that the right of a woman to control her own health care, and her body, would have been clearly permanent law.

But, instead, the extremist right wing Supreme Court, with appointees of George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump, by a 6-3 vote eviscerated abortion rights in Dobbs V Jackson Women’s Health Organization, on June 24, 2022.

This caused nationwide reaction, leading to six states insuring the right of abortion by vote of the people of those states, and defeat of extremist anti abortion candidates for Governor and other state wide executive offices in many states by the time of the Midterm Elections of 2022.

But the anti abortion extremists are now out to create a nationwide ban on abortion, which, if the Republicans win the US Senate and the White House in the 2024 elections, could be a reality!

This has been a 50 year effort by so called “Pro Life” forces, which want to impose their personal and religious views on the entire population of the United States, including young girls who should not be having children before adulthood, and also undermines the basic physical and mental health of women, without any concern of the impact.

So the battle for individual freedom must go on, with no relenting on the issue!

Abortion Rights A Winning Cause When Americans Vote On The Subject

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The right wing extremist majority on the US Supreme Court may have ended Roe V Wade in June 2022, and many states, “Red” states, have worked to destroy a woman’s right to control their own bodies.

It is all very disconcerting, the lack of respect for women, and men would not tolerate if they were told, for instance, they had to get a vasectomy, so that they could not make every woman pregnant without personal responsibility of the man involved!

But when one looks at Americans voting on the subject of abortion rights, we find that those opposed to abortion lost in many state and congressional races in 2022, and that the rights of women were upheld consistently.

And in six states in 2022, there were ballot measures which insured abortion rights:

California, Michigan, and Vermont voted to insure state constitutional rights to abortion.

Kansas and Kentucky voted to reject ballot measures to take away abortion rights, and both states are generally “Red”, although the Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly, is a Democrat.

Montana voted down The Born-Alive Infant Protection act, and is also seen as primarily “Red”, although Senator Jon Tester is a Democrat in his third term.

So it is clear that there is widespread support for abortion rights, so the battle must go on!

Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday: Republicans Backtracking On Civil Rights!

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Today is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday, and yet, the Republican Party is doing everything imaginable to backtrack on Civil Rights!

The Supreme Court, with Republican appointments controlling six of the nine seats, is working very hard to negate the Voting Rights Act, Affirmative Action, and so much more, and among those most promoting backtracking is African American Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who is a total disgrace on the issue of civil rights, which actually advanced his career!

Republican Governors, led by Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and other governors, mostly in the South, are mandating that teachers cannot discuss race and ethnicity, and the truth of American history, because some white children might feel “bad”, as if history should be totally sanitized!

This includes literature as well being censored, an absolute outrage, with the goal of keeping young people ignorant, and complying with the demands of many prejudiced white parents, who do not want their children exposed to truth and facts!

It also includes the goal of making it harder for poor people and those of color to be able to vote, a backtracking on the Voting Rights Act of 1965!

So we have Republicans mouthing quotes of Martin Luther King, Jr, but working assiduously to promote a white supremacy version of history and literature, in a nation becoming less white by the decade!

This is a human tragedy of massive proportions, and must be resisted by decent and educated people who do not want a sanitizing of our history and literature, and instead, a full accounting for past shortcomings, in order to promote a better future in a multiracial society!

Republicans On Suicide Watch: Promoting More Anti Abortion Legislation!

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The right wing extremist Republican Party clearly is on a “suicide watch”, as after losing so many elections on the issue of abortion in the 2022 Midterms, they are at it again, passing extremist bans on abortion in the House of Representatives!

There is ZERO chance of such disgraceful limits on women’s control of their own bodies being passed in the US Senate. In any case, any such legislation would be vetoed by President Joe Biden!

The right wingers and the Republican Party have not learned that it is a losing cause to put limits on abortion, no matter what is done by the US Supreme Court and by backward state legislatures in many Southern states and Midwestern states!

But let us hope they continue their craziness, as it will insure their defeat for the Congress in 2024, as well as the White House!

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

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Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

Affirmative Action On The Block Before The Supreme Court

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Affirmative Action has been a social policy for the past half century, and has allowed many people of color and women, who had been denied equality throughout American history, to have the opportunity to advance educationally, and enter many fields of work where they had been denied entrance.

Unfortunately, others, who were Caucasian, or male, or even Asian American ethnicity, lost opportunities that might have been theirs if there was no affirmative action programs.

So this issue is very complicated, but in the long run of history, it could be argued that affirmative action has been a positive concept, as unfortunately, there will always be those who are on the short end of any social change.

But, it is hard to believe that those who have been denied have not managed to succeed, just in a different manner and circumstance, as life is a challenge, and one cannot always gain everything one wants.

So, overall, it would be helpful if some form of affirmative action survived in the Supreme Court, as it now considers this issue, although it seems unlikely that it will survive this right wing Court in the present circumstances!

Donald Trump IS The Most Important Issue In Midterm Elections!

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After the January 6 House Committee hearings yesterday, and the Supreme Court unanimously rejecting Donald Trump’s attempt to manipulate the issue of the national security documents at his Mar A Lago estate, it has become perfectly clear!

The issue of the Midterm Elections next month is the issue of what will happen to American democracy, as Donald Trump is a clear and present danger to the future of the American republic!

There are many other issues, including the “Election Deniers” crisis, abortion rights, the economy, gun violence, the climate crisis, the Ukraine invasion by the Russian Federation, and the future of the Joe Biden Presidency, among others.

But Donald Trump MUST be prosecuted, and prevented from being able to run for President again in 2024, as a first step above all else!

The Electoral Count Act needs to be revised so that what happened on January 6, 2021 cannot happen again, and since Trump promoted sedition and treason, he must be barred from the ability to run for public office, under the 14th Amendment, Section 3!