Order In The Court: The Quest To Save American Democracy

It's time to Break It Down!

 

June, is, in a manner of speaking, Supreme Court of the United States, aka SCOTUS, Month. As is customary, the High Court is finishing its judicial year with a flourish, rendering historic and/or landmark decisions. Yesterday, SCOTUS dealt a blow to the far right. In an unanticipated twist, a Trump-heavy Court, including two of his three appointees weighed in to deliver a blow to those who would blow up democracy as we know it, and make it easier for state legislatures to invalidate elections. That was the gambit the former president attempted to pull off after the 2020 Election, culminating in the events of January 6, including an insurrection at the Capitol, and a move by a contingent of GOP Congressmen to refuse to certify election results.

 

Trump along with his associates and supporters continue to enthusiastically argue that he did nothing wrong. Not on January 6, not when he took and refused to relinquish classified documents, and not when he claimed to brandish Top Secret documents before a group of people, none of whom had clearance to see secret or classified documents. It is all, according to them, a witch hunt, conducted by Democrats, the liberal left, and of course, the (enemy of the people) media.

 

As the 2024 Campaign Season begins to take shape, Trump has seemingly secured the frontrunner role in the bid to obtain the GOP Nomination. While current polls show him with over 50% of GOP support, and a lead of 20 points or more points over his closest challenger, while his competitors not named DeSantis are looking up at double digits. There’s still a lot of time, of course. Especially, as Mr. Trump is juggling a couple of felony indictments, with more to come. Yet, if past is prologue, it is logical to impute that Trump’s support, at least among the Republican base, is solid.

 

Yesterday’s ruling by SCOTUS squarely rejected the fringe legal theory that Trump supporters hoped could be used to ignore, and if necessary denounce and reject election outcomes.

 

While I wholeheartedly submit, that was a positive development, there are other developments of note.

 

Congress last year passed a law clarifying that as VP Pence concluded, no, the vice president cannot throw out electoral votes the president doesn’t like.

 

Special Counsel Jack Smith appears to be refocused on the Trump supporters who signed false certificates to the federal government, asserting they were the rightful elections for Trump in seven battleground states won by Joe Biden.

 

Of the current SCOTUS’s nine Justices, six are of the conservative bent, and three were appointed by Donald Trump. In yesterday’s ruling, three conservative members, including the Chief Justice, and two members appointed by Trump, joined the three liberals in an effort to disabuse one and all, of the idea that for hundreds of years, Americans have been misinterpreting the word “legislature.”

 

The reliable right was comfortable with the notion that the U.S. Constitution’s elections clause stipulates that federal “shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature.” Under the independent state legislature theory, now debunked by SCOTUS, that means that state legislatures alone oversee federal elections and therefore are unaccountable to state courts.

The case serving as the basis for this ruling – Moore v. Harper – had to do with a 2022 North Carolina congressional map rejected by the State’s Supreme Court. Had SCOTUS agreed that state legislatures were immune from State Courts on these questions, it would have validated the idea pushed by Trump in 2020 that state legislatures could ignore election results and install their own personal electors.

One might argue, the Court (not to mention the country) did not want to see a repeat of 2020. SCOTUS could have declined to hear the case. Instead, they chose to act like grownups and ruled accordingly. Meanwhile, Trump will do, as Trump does; he’ll ignore the facts on the ground, and persist, as he always does, that his actions were perfect. Even though Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, all rejected the madness in 2020, Trump and the voters who love him will persevere. Because, as we all know, today, and every day, Trump still believes Pence could, and should have overturned the election.

On Monday, CNN broke a story with Trump, on tape, rustling papers he said were an Iran battle plan. His loyal adherents, who believe everything he says, even when what he says contradicts what he said, before he said what he’s saying at the time. It would be cute…if it weren’t so existentially threatening.

 

As CNN’s David Chalian put it yesterday on “Inside Politics,” “We have to be able to see the reality that two things are true at the same time. This can be a dangerous, reckless, perhaps criminal bit of behavior by a former president of the United States, and it may not actually damage him politically – may not – inside the context of a Republican nomination race.

Here's to praying that, as was true in 2020, winning a GOP primary/the GOP nomination require appealing to a different set of voters than winning the White House. “Order In The Court: The Quest To Save American Democracy!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

Read my blog anytime by clicking the links: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or /http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.

 

A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/politics/trump-elections-supreme-court-what-matters/index.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/06/order-in-court-quest-to-save-american.html

Juneteenth: An American Celebration

It's time to Break It Down!

 

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect at military posts and that they will not be supported in idleness either there or elsewhere.”

 

In about two weeks, on July 4^th, America will commemorate Independence Day. Two days ago, African Americans observed Independence Day delayed. The celebrations, parades, barbecues, speeches, and TV specials are in-the-books. Juneteenth ’23 is officially done and over. Except…in this space. Marching to my own drummer, as I am wont to do, I’m taking one more bite of the apple…for your edification.

 

For some it may seem that a lot is made over the phenomenon familiarly known as Juneteenth, aka Freedom Day. Indeed, a lot was earned; nothing, and I mean, nothing was unduly given. Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day), is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865 (two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued).^[7] Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture. The day was recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law. 

 

There is so much about Juneteenth that epitomizes and/or parallels the relationship between African Americans and America, and that strikingly elevates for all to observe, the travesty of promises made, by our founding documents, yet denied for centuries to men and women of the African diaspora. On one hand, whether, as a matter of political expediency, one’s point of reference is 1619, or 1776, there is nothing to debate about the existence of slavery on the land we call America, dating back to 1619. On the other hand, whether one claims 1863, or 1865 as the end of slavery, the span of time during which slavery was a thing on these shores is more than two centuries, and roughly 10 generations. For a nation that many characterize as exceptional, ordained by God, and a host of other similarly high-minded, and some would argue, undeserved, appellations, that’s one hell of a blot.

 

On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the final Emancipation Proclamation.^[5] After quoting from the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, it stated:

I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do ... order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion, against the United States, the following, to wit:

Lincoln then listed the ten states^[6] still in rebellion, excluding parts of states under Union control, and continued:

I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free. ... [S]uch persons of suitable condition, will be received into the armed service of the United States. ... And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution, upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate judgment of mankind, and the gracious favor of Almighty God.

 

On September 22, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln announced that the Emancipation Proclamation would go into effect on January 1, 1863, promising freedom to enslaved people in all of the rebellious parts of Southern states of the Confederacy including Texas. 

 

The Emancipation Proclamation did not free slaves in border states, such as Delaware, Maryland, and West Virginia, nor in certain counties or parishes in otherwise rebellious states because, although the Emancipation Proclamation declared an end to slavery in the Confederate States, it did not end slavery in the states that remained in, and loyal to, the Union. As a result, for a short while after the fall of the Confederacy, slavery remained legal in Delaware and Kentucky.^{[27][28][29][30][c]} Those enslaved people were not freed until the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which abolished chattel slavery nationwide, on December 6, 1865. Enforcement of the Proclamation generally relied upon the advance of Union troops. Texas, as the most remote state of the former Confederacy, had seen an expansion of slavery because the presence of Union troops was low as the American Civil War ended; thus, the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation had been slow and inconsistent there prior to Granger's order.^[7]  

 

In other words, The White men who ran Texas, and in those days, the public officials who called the shots in Texas, and in all the other states, were all White and all male, said thanks, but no thanks, Abe. It was not until Lincoln pulled the military trump card that Texas complied.  In a not difficult to see way, that scenario explains why so many White people in America love their guns…and hate their government. They believe, were it not for the infernal government, they could have successfully resisted emancipation, in perpetuity, and they are certain that had they not been outgunned by Lincoln’s Union Army, they could have taken on the military and won.

 

These two sentiments undergird a smoldering urge to reprise the Civil War. Doubt it at your own peril, but there is a substantial, and I believe growing urge in this country to transform the current culture war into an armed conflict. But that’s a post for another day. Right now, one last time, I implore you, commemorate…”Juneteenth: An American Celebration!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the links: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or /http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.

 

A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emancipation_Proclamation

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/06/here-we-go-again-again.html

Here We Go Again. Again!

It's time to Break It Down!

 

Since 2016, America, also known in some circles as America the Exceptional, or words to that effect, has been confronted time and time again by a now former President executing or undergoing a series of shenanigans never seen expedited by a Commander-in-Chief, or anyone who formerly held the title.

 

On April 5^th, I posted a blog entitled, Arraigned In Manhattan: Don’t Believe Your Lying Eyes (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2023/04/05/arraigned-in-manhattan-dont-believe-your-lying-eyes/). It detailed a 34-count indictment against the former POTUS,

by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.

 

On May 9^th, a NY jury found Mr. Trump liable for sexual assault and defamation and ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million in damages. Carroll alleged that Trump assaulted and raped her in a Bergdorf Goodman department store in 1996. The jury, which unanimously found Trump liable on the charges of assault and defamation, did not find him culpable for rape.

 

Yesterday, Trump breezed into South Florida, where he caught another 37 counts, generated by a federal grand jury in Miami. The charges centered, which centered on Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents, made for another first; a former president being charged with federal crimes. After being arraigned and spending a couple of hours in a Miami courtroom, he made a pitstop in Little Havana, for a photo-op with supporters, before heading back to New Jersey where he held a rally with more supporters at his Bedminster Golf Club.

 

After learning he would be required to submit to arraignment Tuesday, Trump found his groove and commenced spinning some of his more popular yarns.

 

In a Georgia speech Saturday evening, he said of a photo included in the indictment, of an overturned box, the FBI may have tipped over the box.

 

Nope. According to the indictment, the photo was taken in December 2021 by Trump aide and accused co-conspirator Walt Nauta, who the indictment says texted the photo to another Trump employee with the words ”I opened the door and found this…” The FBI did not execute its search warrant at Mar-a-Lago until August 2022, eight months later, so it could not possibly have done the toppling.

 

Known as the author of the perfect call, Trump also claimed the overturned box held no documents, but only newspapers.

 

Uh, no. Though the photo shows newspapers and pictures among the spilled materials, the photo also clearly shows other unidentified papers in the pile – one of which prosecutors allege was classified and labeled with markings making it clear it was releasable only to the members of an intelligence alliance comprised of the U.S. and four other countries.

 

Finally, he said, of the 37 federal charges, officials took one charge, and repeated it 36 times.

 

In actuality, of the 37 charges, 31 are for allegedly violating the same statute each with a different classified document. The other six offenses are different: conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document or record, concealing a document in a federal investigation, scheme to conceal, and making false statements and representations.

 

There’s more. There is always more. Much more. Hopefully, however, that’s enough to convey the point. Trump was being Trump. “Here We Go Again. Again!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the links: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or /http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.

 

A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

  

 

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/13/politics/fact-check-trump-federal-documents-indictment/index.html

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/06/here-we-go-again-again.html

Book Banning Is Passé: A Republican President Said So...Seventy Years Ago

It's time to Break It Down!

 

There is bourgeoning movement fanning out across the American landscape. School Boards, librarians, impassioned parents, and a cacophony of conservative politicians are leading a contemporary book burning, or at least, banning, craze. Much of this fanatical action is done in the name of the anti-CRT movement.

 

Early on, the promoters, while maneuvering to gain a foothold, alleged that the effort was intended to protect young impressionable elementary schoolers from topics too advanced for their tender years. Like many insidious gambits, once the notion was translated into policy and legislation, the scope magically and instantly expanded to all ages, in all schools, up to and including public colleges.

 

Many of the zealous advocates for this anachronistic practice would be more than mildly surprised to learn that as early as 1953, a Republican icon totally disavowed “book burning” (banning). At the Dartmouth College commencement address that year, June 14, 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower decried censorship. In the first year of his presidency, Eisenhower noted in his ten-minute speech, American History is steeped in a conundrum, vacillating between the democratic ideal of free speech and its antediluvian polar opposite, censorship. He noted that this conflict has surfaced again and again over the course of time. 

 

The President advised that we look at America. He courageously called out our simple and small-minded tendency to resist admitting self-evident truths.

 

“Look at your country. Here is a country of which we are proud, as you are proud of Dartmouth and all about you, and the families to which you belong. But this country is a long way from perfection—a long way. We have the disgrace of racial discrimination, or we have prejudice against people because of their religion. We have crime on the docks. We have not the courage to uproot these things, although we know they are wrong. And we with our standards, the standards given us at places like Dartmouth, we know they are wrong. And pert of being able to look at one’s country with honest eyes, is not siding with “Book burners.”

 

Reflecting on Eisenhower’s remarks must certainly cause contemporary proponents of America the exceptional to wince. Seven decades ago, in addressing the academy, an institution many of today’s conservatives look upon with disdain, the Republican President of the United States called upon soon-to-be graduates to reject the tenets what we know today as anti-CRT.

 

More specifically, he said, “Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you are going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book, as long as the document does not offend our own idea of decency. That should be the only censorship.”

 

Nearly eight years later, in his final address, Ike warned against the Military Industrial Complex. These two philosophical capstones say about as clearly as can be stated that the core values of the GOP have changed dramatically. I’ll leave the discussion of the arms race for another post. Today, the emphasis is and shall remain, “Book Banning Is Passé: A Republican President Said So…Seventy Years Ago!”

 

I’m done; holla back!

 

Read my blog anytime by clicking the links: http://thesphinxofcharlotte.com or /http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com.

 

A new post is published each Wednesday. For more detailed information on a variety of aspects relating to this post, consult the links below:

 

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/eisenhower-dont-join-book-burners/

http://thesphinxofcharlotte.blogspot.com/2023/06/book-banning-is-passe-republican.html