Donald Trump is extremely unpopular/unlikable but, it appears, JD Vance is even worse – by most accounts he’s the MOST unpopular VP candidate in modern history. The “MO” of Trump and Vance is the “shtick” devised in the early thirties by none other than Adolf Hitler in conjunction with his “minister of propaganda” Joseph Goebbels – the “Big Lie Theory” (repeat a LIE over and over until people believe it’s true) and “Projection” (accuse your “enemy” of the very things you’re doing yourself). In the interest of demonstrating Trump’s true intentions, here’s an example of the projection he’s made in just the past couple of weeks:

Under Harris, “America will be condemned to a fate of decline, desperation and despair,” Trump said at one stop. “Your family finances will be permanently destroyed. Your borders will be gone forever. Tens of millions more illegal aliens will invade our cities and towns. … Medicare and Social Security will buckle and collapse.” He went on to say that businesses would be “worthless” and that Harris “would crash the stock market like in 1929, annihilate the pensions, 401(k)s and all of the retirement accounts” and cause “your income to plummet, your net worth to collapse, your tax bills to soar and your jobs to totally disappear.” But none of this will matter, because, in Trump’s telling, she’ll also start World War III. (Thanks to Dana Milbank for that)

I could go on (and on and on…..) but, the point is Trump is quickly losing it (whatever he had in the first place) and, from where I sit, it’s highly unlikely he’ll survive four years in the “White House” if he somehow cheats his way back in. (By the way, one of his most outrageous use of projection is claiming the democrats will cheat in order to “steal” this coming election) This man is not well. He’s OVER 78 years old and his family has a history of dementia – his father died from Alzheimer’s. Therefore, his choice of VP becomes all the more important. And, he chose Vance, apparently based on the recommendation of Don Jr. Yikes!!!

Vance, he who admitted the “eating dogs and cats” was a “made up story” in order to get voters to focus more on their (his and Trump’s) LYING about immigration – not seeming to care he was creating a chaotic and dangerous situation for his OWN constituents – has less than TWO years in public service. Well, I’ll grant his time in the military was a public service – but NOTHING to prepare one to assume the duties of the President of the United States. He’s not even an effective, useful member of Congress. In short the guy is a wack job whose changed his position on Trump by 180 degrees in order to draw himself closer to power.

Vance is the product of Billionaires like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, two apologists for South Africa and the apartheid era. Musk was born in South Africa and is an IMMIGRANT. Theil was born in West Germany and is also an IMMIGRANT. He spent part of his youth in South Africa during the waning days of Apartheid. Both Musk and Thiel are clearly supporting politicians in America who have, at a minimum, made comments suggesting they are racists. Both seem to have a sweet spot for South Africa’s Apartheid government. Need I say more. Well, regardless, I’m not going to. You can figure out what’s going on re: Trump/Vance and these two BILLIONAIRES.

Trump is threatening to bring in a true mimicking of Russia’s fascist regime along with an era of OLIGARCHS. Now, don’t get me wrong, I already believe America is loaded with “OLIGARCHS” – but, it won’t take much to put her (America) into a full blown fascist state with an even more extreme example of a government/corporate partnership. We are close and what Joe Biden did in the previous 3 1/2 years and Kamala Harris is proposing for the next four does not appeal to those BILLIONAIRES like Musk and Theil who can’t seem to get enough MONEY.

And, trust me, their loyalty is to the money – not the U.S. or, even, Trump. In fact, I read a while back how Thiel purchased a large, isolated part of New Zealand where he can go when the s@#t hits the fan – so to speak. And, it almost seems as if he’s attempting to speed that process up. And, these aren’t the only two who would fall in the same category. (I’m talking about BILLIONAIRES here)

Make no mistake. There are BILLIONAIRES who support Kamala Harris and are openly campaigning for the preservation of our democratic republic. Trump has OPENLY suggested that his supporters wont have to vote again once they elect him in November. He suggested “we’ll have it all taken care of” (or words to that effect) suggesting either no more voting or us “radical left lunatics” won’t be allowed to vote. Who knows? The stuff coming from Trump’s mouth really does suggest he’s losing his “marbles.”

Regarding the lack of loyalty to the United States of Trump’s two Apartheid loving BILLIONAIRES, I think the same thing with Trump. I’ve been saying for a couple years now (sporadically) that I believe once the election is over and, if Ms. Harris prevails, Trump needs to be put on some kind of “house arrest” regarding his legal woes, because I think he’ll have his plane fueled up and he’ll be out of the country to some place with no extradition treaty with the U.S.

So, you can see why he’s acting with so much desperation. He’s focused on saving his own “donkey” (if you know what I mean?) and Kamala Harris is focused on saving our republic from a bunch of avowed fascists – who clearly don’t believe in our constitution and/or our form of democracy. (Once again, read “Project 2025”) Trump has MORE than 34 reasons to be desperate and his desperation MUST be taxing on someone 78 years old (I’m 77 and understand how the body is going “south” at this age) and his obvious mental decline suggests to me the odds of him lasting four years as president are slim and none. Therefore,, when you cast a vote for Trump, in my view, you’re ultimately casting a vote for Vance – and therefore people like Musk and Thiel. Just think about that! It appears close to half of America is on board with that nauseating thought. Yikes!!!

Final Thought: Speaking of PROJECTION – yesterday I watched a segment of a speech Elon Musk was giving to a group in Pennsylvania – where he’s trying to get Trump “over the hump” to win in that state. As he was speaking, he very casually mentioned while talking about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris: “They have hundreds of puppet masters.” Well, I found that an interesting (alarming) LIE considering he’s supporting a 78 year old man who is showing himself to be “unstable and unfit” for the rigors of the job he’s “applying” for. Just read Project 2025 – the roadmap for the “next conservative president” – put together by a couple hundred “conservatives” (in America these days that appears to mean “fascists”) who will be “guiding” the next (Trump?) American “conservative” president.

I’m guilty of suggesting Trump is the puppet and those behind “Project 2025” are the “puppet masters” – but, the difference between myself and Elon Musk is I give “evidence” to support my contention. Obviously, there aren’t many American voters who are reading that manifesto because I rarely hear it even mentioned of late – including by Kamala Harris. Additionally, of late I have rarely heard Ms. Harris or her supporters mentioning Trump’s THIRTY FOUR FELONY convictions, plus his pending legal challenges which he’s attempting to erase by getting elected once again. I’m getting the feeling the work of Musk and his BILLIONAIRE associates is working as the “polls” are tightening in the “swing states.”

Politicians always have benefactors which they feel indebted, but this Project 2025 is something I’ve never seen in my 60 years of following politics. (Actually, closer to 70 years because my parents were active back in the 1950’s – I still remember the arguments between my Mom and Dad about Stevenson v Eisenhower) Not only is Musk using PROJECTION to hide “Project 2025,” but he’s funding some extremely “cynical” (using the description of HuffPost) advertising where he sends targeted ads to Pennsylvania voters identified as Palestinian supporters showing Kamala Harris as a strong supporter of Israel and, to the voters identified as Jewish, he’s sending ads depicting Ms. Harris as a strong supporter of the Palestinians. Will he get away with this? We’ll see! I’ve been saying for years republicans have a “the end justifies the means” strategy and it’s gone to an even more extreme – and, sadly, I believe it works! Stay tuned…..

This thought just arrived in my brain: I still remember James Comey, in testimony before Congress, saying the thought of him announcing the re-opening of the Clinton investigation (into the same email server setup as her predecessors who were republicans) was the reason Trump “won” in 2016 made him a bit “nauseous” while publicly announcing the “Russia investigation” leading to the first of Trump’s alleged “Obstruction of Justice” sections in the Mueller report. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mr. Comey is getting nauseous once again – knowing how things would be so much different had he kept in mouth shut back in 2016. Go figure!

I copied this article written by Thom Hartman for “Raw Story” an online publication I subscribe to. Mr. Hartman said to “pass it on” so I did:

Sometimes I hate being right.

Donald Trump is campaigning in Blue states right now, including California, Colorado, and New York. It has pundits scratching their heads: is it just all about his ego? Is he crazy? Or crazy like a fox?

I’d argue the latter: that this is part of a strategy to legally seize the White House after he’s lost both the popular vote and the Electoral College vote, much like Republican Rutherford B. Hayes did in the election of 1876.

Eight months before the 2020 election, I wrote a largely-ridiculed article for Alternet.org predicting that Trump would lose the election but would then use multiple phony slates of swing-state electors to try to get the Electoral College count thrown to the House of Representatives where, under the 12th Amendment, the Republican majority would crown him president.

I noted that I’d first heard of the plan that month from a Republican insider I knew from my days living and doing my radio/TV program from Washington, DC.

And, as we all now know, that’s pretty much exactly what happened.

Fortunately, Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi stopped Trump and his merry band of corrupt lawyers and lawmakers (including Mike Johnson, who led the effort in the House) from executing the plan, but not before five civilians and three police officers lay dead because Trump incited a violent attack on the Capitol in his final, desperate attempt to pull it off.

Now we know, I believe, why Donald Trump thinks it’s so important to call out the military around election day this year. He expects millions of Americans to be in the streets because his plan is for the House, Republicans in the states, and the Supreme Court to hand him the presidency regardless of the election’s outcome.

Last Friday, my SiriusXM colleague Michelangelo Signorile mentioned to me (on his program) that a prominent rightwing hate radio host had claimed Trump is campaigning in Blue states right now so he can help out down-ballot House members in those states. According to that host, it’s all about holding the House so when the time comes for the election to be certified Republicans will be able to deny that still-necessary certification and vote Trump in themselves.

Which is giving me a terrible sense of déjà vu. At the risk of again playing the reluctant role of Cassandra, here are some examples of how Trump and the GOP could try to steal the White House this winter, regardless of how the vote turns out. And how Republicans are today telegraphing this very outcome.

Article II (the Executive Branch), Section I, Clause 2 of the Constitution (and the 12th Amendment, which revises it) gives solely to the legislatures of the states the power to control the electors who will decide the presidential election.

It does not say — and there is no federal law that says — that the people of the states shall vote for their choice of president and then that vote shall be reflected in the states’ electoral votes. It’s entirely up to each state’s legislature (without any input from the governor).

“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors…” is how it appears in Article II of the Constitution.

As Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote in the 2000 Bush v Goredecision when the US Supreme Court overturned the Florida Supreme Court’s order for a recount that would have given the election to Al Gore:

“The individual citizen has no federal constitutional right to vote for electors for the President of the United States… [T]he state legislature’s power to select the manner for appointing electors is plenary; it may, if it so chooses, select the electors itself, which indeed was the manner used by state legislatures in several States for many years after the framing of our Constitution.”

Every state’s legislature generally directs all their electors to vote for the candidate who won the majority in the state (Maine and Nebraska are the exception, allowing for split decisions), a system we call “winner takes all,” but, as Rehnquist noted, a state’s legislature (its combined house or assembly and senate) can, by simple majority vote, direct its electors to vote for any candidate they want, even over the objection of their governor.

In the 2000 election, for example, when the Florida Supreme Court ordered a complete recount of the vote for president in that state, Jeb Bush and his Republicans knew that a full, statewide recount would give Al Gore the presidency. (It would have discovered the additional 45,599 votes for Al Gore that Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris arbitrarily and illegally chose not to count, as The New York Times noted a year later.)

In other words, had the U.S. Supreme Court not intervened to stop the Florida recount, the Republicans in the Florida legislature were fully prepared to hand the entire Florida electoral college vote — and, thus, the White House — to George W. Bush, even if a recount showed that Al Gore actually won the state. It was, after all, their constitutional right, as Rehnquist later noted in Bush v Gore.

As David Barstow and Somini Sengupta wrote for the New York Times on November 28, 2000, just before the Supreme Court intervened:

“The president of Florida’s Senate said today that Gov. Jeb Bush had indicated his willingness to sign special legislation intended to award Florida’s 25 Electoral College votes to his brother Gov. George W. Bush of Texas even as the election results were being contested.”

“But,” some say, “Kamala Harris is the Vice President, so she won’t refuse to accept the Electoral College votes like Trump wanted Pence to do!”

That’s true, but irrelevant.

While the updated Electoral Count Act explicitly redefines the Vice President’s role as purely ceremonial, it does not — and could not without a constitutional amendment —alter the power of individual Republican-controlled swing states to send Trump electors (claiming that the Harris-winning results in their states are the result of voter fraud) to DC.

Regardless of how transparently dishonest such an effort would be, its primary result would be to throw to the Supreme Court the decision over which electors to count.

Multiple Court observers have noted how light the Court’s docket is this fall because, they speculate, Roberts is fully expecting to play a role in the election similar to what five Republicans on the Court did in 2000 when they stopped the Florida recount, handing the White House to George W. Bush.

The Court could then declare the election flawed because of the alleged voter fraud — Republicans across the country, as well as Trump and Vance, are already preparing the ground for this claim — and, citing the 12th Amendment, throw it to the House of Representatives.

Under that scenario, each state’s House delegation has one single vote for president (the Senate is not involved under the 12th Amendment) and right now there are 26 states controlled by Republicans: the 26-24 vote would put Trump and Vance in the White House for the next four years.

That strategy would require one or more individual states to either refuse to certify their vote, delay certifying their vote, or submit multiple slates of electors.

And we’re already hearing from both local elections officials and state legislators’ rumblings that this is exactly what they intend to do.

Another option to produce the same result would be for a majority vote in the House to refuse to certify a Harris win.

Which brings us back to Trump campaigning in Blue states. As Ed Kilgore wrote for The New Yorker:

“As it happens, there are ten highly competitive House races in California and New York, and a Trump appearance nearby could goose GOP turnout and promote party-organizing efforts in ways that could make a difference in those contests.”

This brings us back to the scenario Michelangelo shared with me. The new, 2025-2026 House is sworn in on January 3rd, whereas the presidential vote is certified on January 6th.

If Democrats win the House in November and are sworn in on January 3rd, it’s unlikely that Speaker Hakeem Jeffries would go along with Trump’s scheme on January 6th, and Republicans wouldn’t have the necessary majority in any case.

But if Republicans can hold the House, there’s a good chance that Speaker Mike Johnson would happily hold the vote to declare Harris’ win as “fraudulent.” After all, he’s the guy who corralled fully 147 votes against certifying the 2020 election in the House; his being the ringleader of that effort is the main reason he’s the speaker right now.

There are multiple razor-tight House races in California, Colorado, and New York. Trump and his co-conspirators may well believe that his holding rallies in those states represents the best bet for helping Republicans win those races, thus insuring Johnson is in charge of the House so they can refuse certification and throw the case to themselves via the Supreme Court.

Seizing control of the Senate would be the icing on the cake for this scheme, as it’s also sworn in on January 3rd and also votes to certify the Electoral College vote, but a deadlock is only necessary in one of the two legislative bodies, and if the 12th Amendment is invoked by six Republicans on the Supreme Court because of that deadlock only the House votes for president.

Keep in mind, JD Vance is still refusing to say that Trump lost the 2020 election, most recently stonewalling the question five timesin a podcast interview with Lulu Garcia-Navarro of The New York Times last week. Donald Trump is also still asserting that he won, and is already signaling that he intends to declare victory in November regardless of the “official” outcome.

And, unlike in 2020, there are no longer Mitt Romneys, Adam Kinzingers, or Liz Cheneys in Congress who could gum up the works. The GOP is today unified in its assertion that voter fraud handed Joe Biden the 2020 presidency: this is the perfect setup for the scenarios I’m describing, and Republicans know it. They created it, in fact.

The most likely scenario, though, would involve local election officials gumming up the works by slow-walking counts, challenging counts, or outright refusing to certify counts at the state level long enough that several individual state votes can’t be certified by January 6th, very much like in the election of 1876.

That would provide an easy excuse for the six Republicans on the Supreme Court to intervene, invoke the 12th Amendment, and throwing the election to the House, guaranteeing Trump’s victory.

As Jim Rutenberg and Nick Corasaniti recently wrote for The New York Times:

“The Republican Party and its conservative allies are engaged in an unprecedented legal campaign targeting the American voting system. Their wide-ranging and methodical effort is laying the groundwork to contest an election that they argue, falsely, is already being rigged against former President Donald J. Trump. …
“Even if the cases fail, Mr. Trump’s allies are building excuses to dispute the results, while trying to empower thousands of local election officials to disrupt the process. Already, election board members in several states have moved to block certification of primary election tallies, including in a major swing county in Nevada last week.”

The updated Electoral Count Act sets a hard date of December 11th for states to certify the vote, but doesn’t detail any consequences or outcomes if states fail to meet that date. Thus, in the case of conflict, confusion, or multiple lawsuits the case would, again, end up before the six Republicans who control the Supreme Court.

As the Times’ Rutenberg and Corasaniti note:

“For his part, Mr. Whatley, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, was noncommittal when reporters recently asked him if his party would seek to block certification in any states this fall.
“‘We’re not going to cross any of those bridges right now,’ he said.”

Gee, ya think? They couldn’t be telegraphing their plans any more clearly if they were skywriting them.

I wrapped up my March 2020 article predicting the GOP’s upcoming fake elector strategy by imploring Democrats and the media to ring the alarm before they tried to pull it off:

“Get it into the media and repeat it over and over again: The GOP plans to claim Democratic voter fraud in this election to steal the election for themselves, and they’re already getting people primed for it!”

It’s worth repeating today.

Pass it along.

Here we are, 25 days from the November election which COULD put Donald Trump where he belongs, right next to Benedict Arnold in the history books. And, oh yes, across the room from Jack Smith in a courtroom headed for another guilty verdict due to some of the most egregious political corruption in American History. But, there’s SO MUCH more “We the people” should be paying attention to. As I listen to political programming as we head toward this election I “get” what’s being talked about, but there’s a couple issues which boggles my mind as they seem to be getting “glossed” over. There are many issues, but – especially if you’re a “young voter” these seem to be the ones which SHOULD be at the top of the “list.”

I mean, no one can argue, for example, freedom for viability over their own bodies for women are serious issues which pretty much will be determined in this election, one way or another. And, I have to add, this is NOT just an issue for women. It involves husbands, brothers, fathers, uncles, and grandfathers. I learned long ago I had paid for an “abortion.” (Even though I thought I would never do so) In the first pregnancy I was involved in (directly – as the father) my wife started bleeding profusely at about 15 weeks and had a miscarriage. I rushed her to the hospital and she had an emergency “D & C” – in essence, an abortion. Over the next few years she gave birth to two beautiful young daughters.

As we’ve seen from the stories of more and more young women since the overturning of Roe v Wade women who’ve been turned away from the hospital because of “Trump abortion bans” – that, according to him, EVERYONE wanted – are facing the reality of serious health complications including DEATH. No one knows the number of women who’ve DIED because of these TRUMP bans on a common procedure, but the statistics are clear that pregnancy is now a “life threatening condition” for women in nearly half of the U.S. states. This is a SERIOUS issue in the upcoming election, but in the long run, I submit, not one of the top two. (I shudder when I think of what if my wife and I had been in today’s Texas – without the means to get to another state for the needed health care)

Here’s one which really causes me some consternation. Somehow Trump is favored due to the ‘economy” by more Americans than Kamala Harris. How can this be so? Trump left office with the WORST job creation record in American History? In the same general direction as Herbert Hoover – the “father” of the great depression. Additionally, Trump’s administration was responsible for roughly 25% of the nation’s total debt – for ALL TIME. So, something like 3 million fewer Americans were employed when he left than when he took the oath. And, he’s so dishonest he’s trying to take credit for the RECORD stock market numbers – get this – under Biden! This guy will say ANYTHING!

Yes, the economy is important – but, you have to wonder what people are looking at/reading to have this view of Trump’s ability to run the economy. For heaven’s sake, he oversaw the BANKRUPTCY of his businesses SIX times. He was bailed out of several business disasters by Russian, Saudi, Chinese, and Qatari “investors” looking for a way to LAUNDER some of their “Ill gotten” gains. If he was applying for a job at an American Fortune 500 company, he’d never get through the first wave of applicants. And, the economy is a “short term” concern – and, I’m talking about more important “long term” issues.

Voting Rights are high on my list of important issues. I’ve watched in somewhat a state of horror over the past few years since John Roberts and the Supreme Court “gutted” Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and seriously weakened Section 2. (I used to know in more detail about both sections, but at 77 I’m witnessing, first hand, the cognitive decline you hear talked about after Trump has given a speech.) “Conservatives,” as usual, are trying to create circumstances where the fewest possible number of voters, from their perspective, head to the polls. Voter suppression legislation has been passed in nearly half of the American states. Yikes! (Yet, not what I see as the two most important issues)

The “environment” (clean water, clean air, etc.) obviously is of great importance and, now, we’re getting “warm” regarding the two issues I believe should be DRIVING this campaign. I’m also concerned about the proliferation of guns in America. For example, to me, AK – 47’s (AR – 15’s) are not weapons for individual self defense or HUNTING? Guns which can shoot rounds off faster than the guy who reads the “small stuff” after an advertisement on TV – just picture someone talking faster than you can think, are NOT guaranteed by the second amendment – and, they SHOULD be illegal.

The wars in Ukraine and Israel/GAZA. If you’re a republican and you’re talking about supporting Vladimir Putin, well, I can’t help you. I “get” the issue with the Israeli’s and their outrageous response to October 7th, but the reality is Joe Biden (or Kamala Harris) can’t control Bibi Netanyahu – who will drag this war out indefinitely – simply out of “self preservation” – kind of in the “mold” of Donald Trump. Once this war is “over” (it’s been going on for 4000 years if you believe the Bible – even Trump’s version) Netanyahu will be forced to face up to his corruption. (Bribery and Fraud – sound familiar?) Bottom line, if you care about the Palestinians, you SHOULDN’T be voting for Trump. And, you can support both the Israeli (people) AND the Palestinian people. That gets me to my point!

If you’re a young person and you care about this nation remaining a “nation of laws, not men,” you SHOULD be focused on voting AGAINST Trump simply because of the issue of the COURTS. If Trump manages to CHEAT his way back into the “White House” I can guarantee you both Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito will retire and will be replaced by YOUNG jurists selected by Leonard Leo. That means MORE Kavanaugh, Gorsuch, or Coney Barrett types for the next FORTY years. That would mean the court will be a right wing disaster for the lifetimes of my children. This SHOULD (in my view) be one of the top two issues of this election season giving reason to vote AGAINST Trump, but more importantly FOR Kamala Harris.

The second issue I consider of IMPERATIVE importance would be the CLIMATE CRISIS. I keep wondering what is it going to take for “we the people” to wake up to this CRISIS? Florida was “hit” twice within two weeks by POWERFUL hurricanes – the first doing MAJOR damage all the way up to Western North Carolina – leaving major flooding and lost of life in its wake. The second storm reached category FIVE status in a matter of hours and was category three when it made a direct hit on the Western shores of Florida. The destruction was MASSIVE and, yet, hear we are a week later, hardly focused on the devastation any more. (Unless, of course, you live in the affected areas)

But, hurricanes aren’t the only problem stemming from the CLIMATE CRISIS. Every year, it seems, huge parts of California are on fire with damage which compares to that caused by hurricanes in the East. Plus, the increase in average temperatures is alarming if you pay attention to the scientists who suggest we’re close to the “tipping point” – meaning “we’ve gone too far” (i.e. – we’ve ignored this problem for too long) The truth, when thinking about CLIMATE, is that the democrats have managed to get “beginning” legislation through a recalcitrant Congress as a start. Trump continues to call the CLIMATE CRISIS a “hoax.” Why are we virtually IGNORING this critical issue?

Simply put, democrats are in favor of addressing this issue and MUST win the “White House” in order to prevent the Supreme Court becoming more of an issue for the working class members of our nation. Since John Roberts became the Chief Justice the court’s “tilt” to the right has become much more extreme. It’s already a corporate friendly court, but that could get worse – MUCH worse! The only hope in dealing with these two issues requires “we the people” to vote for democrats up and down the “ticket.” We need a democratic Congress in order for a progressive agenda to have any chance of passing! Stay tuned!!

Final Thought: The ROT in the republican party runs much deeper than just Donald Trump. Can you imagine J.D. Vance as president? He is the least popular and least “prepared” V.P. candidate in modern American History. (However, from the republican standpoint, he’s proving himself to be a proficient LIAR!) He’s even worse than Sarah Palin and Dan Quayle – if you can imagine that. Vance might be able to spell “potato” but, he can’t answer the question; “Did Donald Trump LOSE the 2020 election?” What a chicken s@#t! Trump’s OLDER than President Biden was back in 2020 and if something would happen to him, should he CHEAT his way back into the “White House” (and, get away with it once more) Vance would become president! Think about that! Yikes!!

As usual, there’s MORE: This past weekend, while Trump was ranting about the “radical left lunatics” (presumably, he’s talking about me) he suggested using the National Guard, or “if necessary” the MILITARY to – well, I’m not sure what exactly he meant. Was he suggesting using the MILITARY to attack their fellow Americans? To kill fellow Americans? Apparently, given the “immunity” he got from the Supreme Court, actions like that would become legal. I’m not sure if they’d be legal from the standpoint of the members of the military – I was only a Marine for six months – (HONORABLY medically discharged) back in the days of Vietnam (While Trump was getting “bone spur” deferments) but, I still remember something about not following ILLEGAL orders. Just sayin….

With Trump, there is NO bottom because as General Mark Milley has publicly stated, Trump is “fascist to the core.” Apparently General Milley has read at least as much as I have of project 2025. (It’s easy to get a copy to download if you want to read it) I just had a stray thought: Could he have read my blog? Project 2025 is a “road map to fascism” (My characterization) and when Trump says he doesn’t know what it is, well, just pile that on the tens of THOUSANDS of other LIES he’s spewed right to the faces of his supporters. It’s the “agenda of the next conservative president” and its authors (well over 100 contributors – it’s 902 pages in length) were significant members of his administration. Repetitive LYING and PROJECTION (staples of Trump’s “campaign strategy” – or, maybe just a core principle of members of organized crime?) come straight out of Mein Kampf. If you’re young and didn’t pay attention in history class, that means Trump’s strategies were first devised by Adolf Hitler! I rest my case!!!

When are “we the people” going to get it? When are republicans going to get it? How many disasters have to happen before republicans quit referring to “Climate Change” as a “hoax?” Led, of course, by possibly the STUPIDEST president to ever occupy the “Oval Office.” And, when are republicans going to pull themselves from the “clutches” of Donald Trump – realizing they’re in a “cult of personality.” Of course, there’s the hard core white nationalists/supremacists who consider Trump their “vehicle into the mainstream of American politics.” That won’t change anytime soon.

I wrote that paragraph a few days ago as I was watching an emerging “disturbance” in the Gulf of Mexico which appeared to be the makings of another HURRICANE just a couple weeks after HELENE wreaked havoc on six states in the Southeast of the United States. Well, a couple days later this disturbance was named “Milton” as a “Tropical Storm.” Now, after another couple days it’s a category FIVE hurricane headed for a “direct hit” on Florida around the Tampa Bay area – the first significant storm to directly have Tampa in its “sights” in a century – and the people affected still haven’t cleaned up the mess from Helene – and, they were just on the periphery of Helene. The one due to “hit” Thursday morning will be the “big one” if you believe the meteorologist’s predictions.

I say that because if a retired sixth grade (language arts, mostly) teacher could see this coming, what is WRONG with politicians like Trump and the sycophants who worship him – still calling the Climate Crisis a “hoax.” A couple days after Helene left much of the Southeast in ruins Trump said of Climate Change, “It’s one of the greatest scams of all time… people aren’t buying it any more. I don’t want to use bad language, my wife said, ‘Please don’t use bad language.’” At the time he said this there were 116 KNOWN deaths from the storm and, as I’m writing this (about a week later), the death toll has reached 235 with STILL hundreds missing. The devastation was such that getting relief to the survivors is a MAJOR challenge. (Although FEMA, along with state and local heroes – in some cases willing to risk their own lives in order to save others – are doing an incredible job)

Trump, and some of his most deranged supporters, was/were actually suggesting the storm was caused by – OK, you know what’s coming next – DEMOCRATS. He pointed out many of the counties hit the hardest were “MAGA” counties (so, must have been caused by democrats) and the survivors will crawl to the polls to vote for him and his “weird” running mate J.D. Vance. His idea of supporting those affected by Helene was to start a “Go Fund me” – without putting anything in it himself. Keep in mind, as of this writing the estimated damage is $250 BILLION. The man is a nincompoop! (Along with several likely personality disorders including severe narcissism and pathological LYING)

Trump showed where his sick mind resides when he suggested if the level of the ocean raised one eighth of an inch it would create “more ocean front property.” (?) Aside from the fact that statement made no sense to me, it showed, once again, Trump proving he’s an ignoramus. Just like his ridiculous statements about windmills:

“We’ll have an economy based on wind. I never understood wind. You know, I know windmills very much. I’ve studied it [sic] better than anybody I know. It’s [sic] very expensive. They’re made in China and Germany mostly, very few made here, almost none. But they’re manufactured — tremendous, if you’re into this, tremendous fumes, gases are spewing into the atmosphere. You know we have a world, right? So the world is tiny compared to the universe. So [a] tremendous, tremendous amount of fumes and everything — you talk about the “carbon footprint” — fumes are spewing into the air, right? Spewing. Whether it’s in China, Germany, it’s going into the air. It’s our air, their air, everything, right?

So they make these things, and then they put them up, and if you own a house within vision of some of these monsters, your house is worth 50 percent of the price. They’re noisy, they kill the birds. You want to see a bird graveyard? You just go, take a look, a bird graveyard? Go under a windmill some day. You’ll see more birds than you’ve ever seen ever in your life” (Dan MacGuill, Snopes – December 2019) Trump will continue to push his “climate denial” ad nauseam – until he’s voted into the history books. (Right next to Benedict Arnold)

That said, as Hurricane Milton bores down on Western Florida, Trump will be finding ways to blame Kamala Harris right up to the election – because, the work of cleaning up the mess will go well past November 5th – making up stories along the way. He will blame Ms. Harris, he’ll be blaming immigrants, he’ll be blaming President Biden, what he won’t be doing is making ANY suggestions about what should be done to put America a bit farther down the path needed to address the Climate Crisis. In fact, he’ll probably find a way to criticize the legislation passed by the Biden/Harris administration already as a first step in an attempt to address the problem. I believe Trump has promised oil executives he’ll repeal Biden’s Climate agenda in return for a measly ONE BILLION dollar campaign donation.

If you’re a young voter and you happen across this site – I believe the Climate Crisis SHOULD be number one on your list of important issues. It is the Climate Crisis which could/will have the MOST influence on your life going forward. I have children and grandchildren and I shudder at the ADDITIONAL damage Trump will cause should “we the people” somehow choose another four (or more – read Project 2025) additional years of Trump savaging our constitutional republic.

Not only should you cast a vote for Kamala Harris, I believe you should attempt to get someone else to do so as well. While I consider this the most important election of my lifetime (Yes, I’ve said that for every election since 2018) I believe that will be the case for the next four or five elections because the only way to get rid of this version of the republican party is vote them into – well, history. They won’t go away easily. They have MONEY and they’ve been pushing a corporatocracy for MOST (if not all) of my lifetime (I’m 77). Stay Tuned……

Final Thought: So, today it was reported Trump has spoken to Vladimir Putin at least seven times since he left Washington D.C. with “his tail between his legs.” This would include at least ONE phone call while Trump has been a candidate for president once again. What do you think they discussed? But, from my vantage point, there’s likely MUCH more. I will remind you when the FBI exercised the search warrant on Mar a Lago where HUNDREDS of top secret classified documents were found. The focus of reporting back then was how many of them were likely exposed to “who knows who” while they were cavalierly stored in various places at Trump’s resort available to people who simply needed to use the rest room.

Here’s what is rarely mentioned. There were SEVERAL folders labeled “TOP SECRET” which were EMPTY. I believe something like a two to three DOZEN. I have no idea if those MISSING files have ever been accounted for – at least not publicly. You probably know where my thoughts are going – although, I’ve brought this up before. Do you really believe Trump wouldn’t share those files with Putin? (or another world dictator who might give something in return) To me, all of this demands answers! What were Trump and Putin discussing on their phone calls? Why hasn’t Trump explained where the missing files are? Why haven’t members of the press pressured him on this? Yikes!!

“So much to write, so little time.” (and energy) There are so many things I want to write about I’m going to end up sounding like Trump at one of his rallies. Round and round we go, where it stops…….. (You know the rest) Tonight I had the misfortune to listen to a bit of an interview someone (I can’t remember who) was giving Melania Trump – she was hawking a recent memoir – and, I might add, not nearly to the level her husband would presumably be expecting. When asked about Kamala Harris she pointed to Ms. Harris’ “record” presumably as the reason people should support “The Donald.” The record: she said something along the lines of “people can’t even go to the store and buy things like bread.” (That’s how I remember it – she was suggesting people don’t have money to spend because of Kamala Harris.)

Fun Fact: Today is the birthday of a good friend of myself and my wife and we went out to dinner with him and his wife. We went to a nice steakhouse (plus seafood, etc.) that I only go to on special occasions – maybe two or three times a year. For a former teacher it’s not “cheap.” However, for the past three years, EVERYTIME I’ve gone there if I forget to make a reservation the wait to be seated is anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. The bill for two is usually around $100 and there’s NO shortage of customers. When I go to the local grocery stores (despite “inflation”) there’s ALWAYS lines at the check out lines – even the self check out lines now usually have lines. And, many people have grocery carts filled to the brim. My point: people have and are spending MONEY!

And, when I listen to people complaining about the price of gas. As if it’s a national disgrace. Well, my first thought is, my wife and I have been driving ELECTRIC cars since 2015. We don’t buy gas. It’s true, not everyone is “right” for an electric car because you’ve got to have a place to charge it. Back in Pittsburgh, when I was there, people parked on the side of the street. Not that convenient. But, out here in Washington, where the price of gas is about $4 per gallon (if you shop around) I can remember it being higher than that several times since the late 1970’s – and, be thankful you’re not in Europe buying gas. It’s become obvious many of America’s “young people,” as I like to call anyone 35 or younger, either watch too much Fox “news” or are simply – I hate to say this – but, spoiled. In America, gas is cheap!

I hear them complain about inflation – and, it reared its somewhat ugly head in the past 3 years, but here’s the deal: We just came out of a once in a century pandemic (or at least I hope so), Trump turned over an historic mess to Biden/Harris, (and, when he tells you it was “perfect” if you believe him we’re right back at that Fox “news” argument), the economy was in a shambles and government stimulation is how you get out of such a mess without risking an economic calamity, (ie another “great recession” or worse, depression) and when the people at the “bottom” go back to work and their wages are higher (which is good) AND there’s a supply chain bottleneck (that’s bad) prices go up. And, OBTW, back in the early 80’s inflation was much higher, interest rates were 18% and higher, and worse yet, Reagan introduced the anti-union stagnation of wages. (which lasted until Biden/Harris)

Add to that the world’s premiere fascist dictator deciding to invade his sovereign neighbor (actually, he already had one “foot” in the “door”) which just made matters worse. And, try as he might, Donald Trump SHOULD not be able to convince you he would have prevented Putin’s ILLEGAL attempted takeover of Ukraine. He recently gave his solution – just have Ukraine simply give Russia the land Putin was already controlling – then all the “dead people wouldn’t be dead.” My advice to someone close to Trump, tell him about Neville Chamberlain! (Trump called Putin a “genius” when he first invaded – with Trump in office Kyiv likely would have fallen in three days and NATO would be “no more.”

Speaking of the 35 and younger set of Americans. (Millennials? Gen Z?) I watched with interest the other evening when Alex Wagner of MSNBC went into Michigan and held a mini town hall (my characterization) with a group of around 50 union members from I don’t remember which town. There was a mix of younger members and older members and Ms. Wagner did a great job of just letting people answer (her) questions without any response on her part (at least noticeable to me). She didn’t, for example, make any indication to the one young man who said he was voting for Trump as to whether she agreed or disagreed with him.

Here’s what I found interesting – especially as someone who believes this election will ultimately be decided by the young voters – the old guys were especially well informed about the issues – from the perspective of a veteran labor union member. The young guys, in fact, didn’t seem to have the slightest grasp of the issues. For example, the reason the young Trump supporter gave for his decision was “immigration.” He had no support for his opinion – meaning he couldn’t explain why – it’s just what he’d “heard.” To Ms. Wagner’s credit, she didn’t show even a hint of trying to give him facts one way of the other. Most of the young guys were “undecided” – they just needed more information before they could make up their minds. Again, Ms. Wagner didn’t attempt to find out what info they had – she just asked generic questions.

The older guys: woo boy! They were well versed on the issues and NONE of their reasons were based on issues like “abortion” or “immigration.” In fact, they were a bit harsh with the younger guys in the room because to them, as to me, a young person voting for Trump needs their head……. (Oh wait, I just – finally – had my head examined – via a CT scan :o) The old guys pointed out the job these guys were all working on – and, making good money – was a direct result of the Biden/Harris’ administration’s “Chips and Science Act.” They felt the young guys should know “where their bread is buttered.” (Again, my characterization) I’ve had the same results when talking to young people about the election – not always – and, that is they are not paying attention. Most I talk to will vote the same as their parents – even if their parents are republicans and aren’t paying attention.

These young people have SO much more at stake than us old people (I’m 77). Take for example, right now, as I’m typing this, Hurricane Helene is SMASHING the “big bend” region of Florida soon to be ravaging places in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. Last weekend Helene was a “Tropical wave” which would likely be a Tropical Storm when it reached landfall in Florida the “experts” said – “maybe a ‘cat 1’ hurricane. Instead the WARM waters of the Gulf of Mexico (near 90 degrees and warm to historical depths) generated enough POWER for Helene to be a category FOUR hurricane by the time it hit landfall with record amounts of storm surge (up to 20 feet in some places). Don’t believe in climate change? Yikes!!!

To me, for young people – and, I’m including my two daughters who are in their mid forties – this SHOULD be the most important issue of them all. I mean, what the hell difference does 50 cents more for a gallon of gas compared to the earth becoming un-inhabitable? Trust me, if “we the people” don’t take the climate crisis more seriously there could be a day when Melania Trump’s nonsense of today becomes far more real. Many scientists say we’ve already passed the 1.5 Celsius … OK, don’t ask me to explain it to you – it’s easy to find articles on the “internets” – I go by the “keep it simple stupid” philosophy. (And, I’m referring to myself as “stupid”)

For example, take Hurricane Helene – which is going to cause BILLIONS in property damage and KILL, likely, quite a few people who chose to “shelter in place.” (in the wrong “places”) These storms are more frequent and more intense. Helene is the SECOND Hurricane to hit Florida in almost this same place – THIS YEAR! (The other one was “only” a category 1 storm) There still could be more storms in Florida this season. (This is why you have to buy homeowners insurance from the state – the private insurers are “long gone.” The wild fires out West are more frequent and more intense, wiping out entire communities. The other major weather disasters around the country (and world) are more frequent and more intense. How much of a “hint” do we all need – especially if you’re younger?

Of course, there are the issues of abortion, education, voting rights, civil rights, and the preservation of our republic – the one Benjamin Franklin said would last only as long as – “we could keep it.” If personal morality means anything to you, “How in the world could you vote for Trump?” He’s a race baiting narcissist, a sexual predator (adjudicated), a CHEATER (on his taxes, his loan applications, his insurance forms, and, of course, in his election campaigns), a xenophobe (check in with the LEGAL Haitian residents of Springfield Ohio to see how that one’s going), and a delusional old person. His strength is his ability to look you in the eye and LIE to your face. (i.e. He’s a “stable genius,” and his word salads = a brilliant compilation of words impressing even English teachers) His supporters apparently are OK with all that. (Can you imagine if Ms. Harris was doing the same thing?)

And, don’t get me started on Project 2025! The “conservatives roadmap to fascism.” Once again, my characterization. But, read it for yourself. I’m not going to link up to it once again, but I have links in previous posts. The last time (I think it was my last post) I had to give my name and email address before I could access it to the Heritage Foundation who are the ones who put out Project 2025. But, you really SHOULD read as much of it as you can tolerate. I have a former friend who I couldn’t get to read the Mueller report (he was in the Trump CULT) who may have read Project 2025 all the way to the 902nd page – who knows? I could only stomach the first 100 pages or so (plus the introduction). I gave them (Heritage) my info so you don’t have to. :o)

By all accounts this coming election is going to be decided by a razor thin “majority” (of the Electoral College). Undoubtedly Harris will prevail in the “popular vote” by several MILLION American voters – but, the antiquated Electoral College will overly benefit people in rural areas – wait a minute, I live in a rural area, but I digress – just as our outdated system has created a Senate which is definitely controlled by a minority of the American people. But, it’s the system we have so progressives have a lot of work to do between now and November 5th. If Trump wins there will be a “peaceful” peaceful transfer of power. If Kamala Harris wins, well, all hell might break out. Stay tuned…..

Final Thought: Today as my wife and I were heading to the restaurant I mentioned above we came across a sliver of green grass between a sidewalk and the main road where one of Trump’s “salespeople” had a bevy of Trump flags for sale – the kind of flags we used to see more of in pickup trucks where the driver had his rifle hanging across his rear view window. One of them had Trump’s mug shot from Georgia’s election interference indictment and read: “Trump or death” with his photo between the words. I told my wife, I think I’d choose death. I’m thinking he very well may be the anti-Christ. Yikes!!! (My mind is wandering!)

I have begun reading a few “substacks” – I’ve subscribed to Thom Hartman’s (in fact, I’ve “shared” several of his here – he ALWAYS “says it better” than me), Robert Reich’s, and Joyce Vance’s “substacks” – which are, in essence, like blog posts. Another one I’ve started reading (it pops up in my email inbox) is Rick Wilson’s. Wilson is one of the original republicans who formed the “Lincoln Project” which I donate money to each month. I don’t know if this will work, but Wilson’s last post is well worth reading in my view. Rick Wilson therickwilson@substack.com is the connection I have to it, so hopefully that will work if you’re interested. Maybe just log into the “Lincoln Project” to get a view of what he/they are thinking. To me, well worth the time.

I’m finding the political conversations since Kamala Harris became the democratic nomination for president quite interesting. I’ve been lobbying – on this site – for the past 20+ years (OK, only 16 of those years on this “blog”) that “we the people” would vote the “present day republican party” into the dustbins of history. During the Bush/Cheney regime I simply wanted the republican leadership to be voted out en masse. However, the party exposed itself to be even worse than I realized back then when the ushered Donald Trump onto their “throne.”

I mean, the latest polling suggests there’s STILL over 40% of the American public who are still prepared to vote for Trump, despite the REALITY he exposes himself to be a delusional racist, misogynist, xenophobic, narcissistic thug whose vision for America is our country as a white nationalist/supremacist society with a partnership with those who want America to be a theocratic christian nationalist dictatorship – via “Project 2025.” You can read it yourself by clicking HERE.

The website for Project 2025 has changed dramatically since the first time I visited and downloaded a copy to my desktop. They start with a “disclaimer” saying Donald Trump has nothing to do with their “Project.” Of course, that’s – in the words of Bill Barr – Bullshit. I gave them my name and email address so you don’t have to – in case you want to be totally INFORMED for the upcoming election. Download it, save it to your desktop (It’s a PDF file), and read as far as you can stomach it. I made it around 100 pages and felt I didn’t need to go any further. Project 2025 is, in my view, a roadmap to fascism. I keep thinking republicans can’t go any lower, and, of course, they make me wrong on a consistent basis – and Project 2025 “takes the cake.” (If you read it you’ll be clear that Trump’s “disclaimer” is absurd.

I’ve been saying for – I don’t know how long – that Trump is a puppet for the monied interests who came together to write Project 2025 (It’s over 900 pages). If you read it you’ll understand who the “puppeteers” are. To me, there’s no question Trump won’t read it – likely no part of it – but the puppeteers are prepared for the next Trump administration and their plans are BOLD. And, of course, un-American. They DON’T believe in “democracy” – even though we live in a democratic republic. The republicans want to take the intrigue out of American politics. Like, despite Trump’s historic level of unfavorables, this election still remains uncertain. The Electoral College is going to be close – even though Kamala Harris will receive MILLIONS more votes than Trump.

You’d think, for example, states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania would be states who would include the excitement Ms. Harris has generated since she became the democratic nominee – but, they’re ALL very close based on the aggregate of the polls. A few years ago I stayed with my brother-in-law for a couple of months in Pittsburgh and I met so many awesome people who, when I think about it, just wouldn’t support someone as disgusting as Trump – someone who’s proven himself to be a pathological LIAR. He’s so used to the MSM looking the other way from his mountain of LIES that when he gets “checked” as he did in his debate debacle via Kamala Harris (on only two or three of his ridiculous LIES) that he attacks the “fact checkers” as “unfair.”

I’ve said this many times here – I taught sixth graders for the last 23 years of my working life – and Trump reminds me of a spoiled sixth grader who when his lips are moving he’s LYING. Here’s an example I can remember (I’m 77 and a bit short on memory) I was teaching one day and one of my students got up and walked out of class, went down to where the water fountain was and struck up a short conversation with a couple students from another room, and then wandered slowly back to our room. I asked him to step outside and simply told him “you must get permission from the teacher before you exit the room.” His response: “I didn’t leave the room.” I said, “I stood there and watched the entire episode.” He demanded he hadn’t left the room.

I decided there was no reason to proceed with the conversation and, after school that day I called his Mom and explained to her what had happened. She responded by saying: “Can you prove it?” Well, I could have proved it – the center area of our Pod had video surveillance which would have showed exactly what I told her. However, as a teacher, you soon learn what is a “losing battle” so I just moved on and let the young man know I would simply allow the school’s principal to solve the problem if he continued to make his own rules in my classroom. This boy, of course, was also a BULLY on the playground. Trump simply reminds me of boys like this.

To me, there’s so many reasons for “we the people” to vote Trump into the History books (along with some of his Congressional appeasers/sycophants) right next to Benedict Arnold, which is where I believe he belongs. A burgeoning issue is getting the attention of more and more people in the state of North Carolina. The GOP candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, already had a MOUNTAIN of reasons for republicans and independent voters to vote AGAINST him – before the “mountain” erupted this past weekend – based on reporting by CNN and the Washington Post.

Allegedly Mr. Robinson was a frequent visitor to a “porn shop” about 10 years ago. A WHOLE bunch of his postings to the message board at this porn shop has now surfaced and NONE of it appears to be helpful to Mr. Robinson’s campaign. He supposedly referred to himself as a “Black Nazi.” When Trump endorsed him he referred to Robinson as Martin Luther King Jr. “on steroids.” He couldn’t have said anything more disgusting at the time – but still hasn’t withdrawn his endorsement of Robinson.

Off the top of my head here’s some more of the comments Robinson has alleged to have said: He wants for women to lose the right to vote. He favors restrictions on abortion at “conception” and tells women they wouldn’t need to worry about abortion if they’d “keep their skirts down.” He favors the return to SLAVERY and said he’d “buy a few.” He’s complimented Adolph Hitler and suggested Mein Kampf for your reading list. He’s said, “some people need to be killed” apparently referring to LGBTQ+ people who he referred to as “filth.” There was much more – he said he’s spied on women in their showers – and, I’ll leave it at that. It’s easy to find it all on the “internet.” Yikes!

Trump isn’t much better. He’s been adjudicated to be a sexual assaulter, guilty of defamation, insurance, bank, and tax FRAUD to tune of court of around $550 MILLION and growing (via interest) EVERY day. He’s been CONVICTED of 34 FELONIES which he faces sentencing on November 18 – hopefully after he LOSES the election. Jack Smith is pushing the case against Trump from attempting to STEAL the 2020 election which will proceed provided he LOSES in November. Additionally, I fully expect the Appeals Court which oversees Judge Cannon to once again SLAP her down and reverse her ridiculous decision to dismiss the Espionage case against Trump – based on a totally absurd interpretation of whether the Attorney General can appoint a Special Counsel.

The Espionage Case is likely the most obvious one where Trump is guilty based simply on the evidence which is already public. The Trial, ultimately, will take place in Florida where Trump’s lawyers will be able to sneak a MAGA member on the jury which could “nullify” the government’s case – despite how obvious Trump’s ILLEGAL conduct has become public. In fact, Trump has ADMITTED his guilt in several different interviews which were shown on the TV. Even when getting “softball” questions by people like Sean Hannity. In my view, people like Hannity will also end up in Benedict Arnold’s section of the history books based on their willingness to LIE for money.

Not only is it important, in my view, for a massive vote for Kamala Harris in this election it’s also important for “we the people” to vote out some of the worst offenders in Congress who, while knowing better, have been foundational in their support of Trump – including in the run up to January 6th, 2021. People like Ted Cruz, Josh Hawley, Scott Perry, Andy Biggs, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Jim Jordan, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Ron Johnson, Mike Lee, Rick Scott, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, John Kennedy (of Louisiana) etc. etc. (Those were all I could get from the top of my head :o)

When I say “the present day republican party” I’m talking about more than the members of Congress – outlets like Fox “news,” “Newsmax” and worst – in my view need to “go” as well. Maybe the Smartmatic lawsuit will put an end to Fox “news'” Lying. Regardless, the job is HUGE for “we the people” and the “final straw” won’t happen this year – even if Kamala Harris prevails come November. (Honestly, the thought of Trump back in the “White House” makes my stomach queezy0 I’ve volunteered to “Vote Forward” to write letters to prospective voters encouraging them to vote – the letters are all non partisan. If you’re reading this far I suggest you find a way to help out – even if it’s giving a small donation to a candidate you support. As Taylor Swift said, “do your own research, make an informed decision, and VOTE! Stay tuned….

Final Thought: The focus of this election is, understandably, on the presidential candidates – Kamala Harris v Donald Trump. However, the “down-ballot” elections are also extremely important. In my district we have a very competent young democrat who won in 2022 in an upset over a republican who is as despicable as Trump and Matt Gaetz, the member of Congress he looks up to. I’m focusing the small amount of money I can afford to donate on this race and I encourage others to do the same in the areas where you live. Unfortunately, the race in my district will be very close once again. Trust me, Congress doesn’t need another “Matt Gaetz.”

This might sound like arrogance (it probably is) but when I listen to the republicans who (FINALLY) are realizing how – my characterization – putrid the republican party has become is welcome to me – BUT – they don’t seem to want to take their responsibility for where things are at in today’s political world. (I haven’t read Stuart Steven’s book, but he’s one republican who’s admitted their shtick was all wrong – and they deserve the condemnation they have earned) I was listening to Liz Cheney today (an excerpt) of an interview she did at Duke University where she announced she will vote for Kamala Harris – just like me, voting AGAINST Donald Trump.

Ms. Cheney is a great ambassador of those who are pointing out the danger Trump (and his Project 2025 cohort) presents to America. And, I have to say, I’m glad she came out and said this as an encouragement to other disenchanted republicans – but, the reality is Ms. Cheney voted for Trump TWICE and went along with his un-American “policy” for the entirety of his four years denigrating the United States of America. And, the ROT in the republican party didn’t just show up the day Trump was inaugurated. I have to add, Liz Cheney’s father was the republican who motivated me to start putting my frustration with the republican party to this “blog” (if that is what this is). For me, it’s venting my frustration with the direction of the country I love. (NEWS FLASH – I wrote this last night and DICK CHENEY is voting for Ms. Harris! I’m going to have to forgive him – now, I want to see him and Bernie Sanders in the SAME ad for Ms. Harris!)

You can check the archives if you choose, but since 2008 I’ve been writing about the IMPORTANCE of voting the republican party (of today) into the history books. The first thoughts I had were centered on the authorization of TORTURE by GW Bush, Dick Cheney, and Donald Rumsfeld (plus others) which Barack Obama decided wasn’t worth pursuing legally when he said “we’re going to look forward instead of back.” I’ve written NUMEROUS times about how that philosophy goes against the most fundamental requirements of emphasizing we are a “nation of laws” and not men.

We are seeing what President Obama wanted to keep from happening as he was trying to get critical legislation through – the Affordable Care Act – and he didn’t want the division which would result from holding Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al accountable. At the time I pointed out how “looking the other way” would simply create larger problems of presidential lawbreaking in the future. Of course, Trump made Bush/Cheney seem like juvenile lawbreakers. (Of course, to me, the admitting on national TV they authorized TORTURE and said, “we’d do it again,’ just didn’t sit well – and still doesn’t)

So, while I’m happy people like Liz Cheney are coming out and fighting to make sure Trump gets nowhere near the White House EVER again, I personally won’t forget their part in creating this monstrosity. I was amazed when “we the people” voted Barack Obama as our 44th president, and I’ve been a strong supporter of him since he came upon the “scene” – even though I will go to my grave believing his decision to “look forward instead of back” was a major blunder. (Now, I have to forgive Obama)

Soon after Obama took the oath of office some of the racist “cells” which existed all across the country – with an emphasis in the South and the “Rust belt” – started to emerge publicly. By the 2010 the so-called “Tea Party” was “born” with the help of financing from the Koch network of billionaires. Anyone who watched the rallies of the “Tea Party” and didn’t realize this “party” was founded on anti Black racism, wasn’t paying attention. The signs those involved were publicly carrying were disgusting to anyone who opposes the white nationalist movement.

This movement (the Tea Party) was the evolution of how the republican party was tilted to the extreme “right” – an evolution which I believe became part of their MO when future Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell penned his now infamous “memo” to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce back in 1971. Of course, it was Ronald Reagan who put Powell’s “memo” into America’s mainstream. Since Reagan took office corporations in America have become more and more integrated into the decision making of our government – largely the reason why the public agrees on so many issues – like with 70% approval on one issue after another – and Congress usually ignores their wishes. As I’ve said many times here, the foundation of fascism is a corporate/government partnership. We are dangerously close to that reality – and a Trump victory in November would be the “final straw.”

Trump has taken the republican MO of “the end justifies the means” to the extreme. We all saw in 2016 his willingness to accept “help” from the Russians – “Russia if you’re listening, I hope you can find the 30,000 emails that are missing……” and, once again the Russian help for Trump is becoming publicly exposed. The Russians are simply proving how many Americans have a “price.” They have identified numerous “useful idiots” who they support by funneling ILLEGAL funding into the American political system. Exactly what President Obama predicted when the Citizens’ United decision was handed down by the Roberts Court. This all is just further proof Trump (and his republican “idiots”) is willing to defy our Constitution if it helps him get more votes.

If you’ve had any concern about whether or not Trump is the MAJOR problem or if it’s the republican party – which I suggested above was “polluted” (OK, I didn’t use that word) a couple things happened today which simply prove my point. For example, Trump continues to act STUPID (well, I have to agree that’s true) about Project 2025. “I have no idea what ’25’ is.” (He purposely misnames it to make his “uneducated voters” believe he’s telling the truth – his LYING, by the way, works) Well, today, while speaking to a bunch of Wall Street “rich” people in New York Trump, as usual, was NOT answering questions by pretending if he was answering them. Didn’t matter what he said, these “rich” people were applauding his nonsense – which didn’t even resemble the questions asked. (Is it them who are STUPID? Even though they’re “rich?”) As I’ve said, the problem goes much deeper than Trump.

So, how does this relate to Project 2025? I’ve tried to explain this here before, but I’ll try once again – it doesn’t seem to be sinking in – out in the “real world.” Trump is the PUPPET! Those behind Project 2025 are the PUPPETEERS. They’ve set the agenda and, sadly, most people I know don’t have the will to actually read it. And, I’m not talking only about “conservatives.” When you read it, you clearly understand there’s a LARGE group of people who are going to “guide” Trump into “not making the mistakes of his first administration.” Simply put, Project 2025 is a roadmap to fascism – the fever dream of those wealthy Americans who have no use for our constitution. (That’s why they’re trying to sneak a “constitutional convention” through behind the backs of MOST Americans.

Trump will only be superficially “in charge.” His PUPPETEERS have already planned out the agenda of the “next conservative government.” Their plan, of course, is that the “next” conservative government would be Trump’s. Naturally, he’s nothing more than the person who’s proficient enough at LYING to give them an actual chance to “take over.” Remember, we’re talking about a coalition of people like David Duke with Charles Koch. Each group has their own agenda and could care less about how it affects anyone else – famous last words when you take into account the reality of Nazi Germany back in the 1930’s.

This is also why I’ve been saying the next election is the most important election in my lifetime – for the past three elections. I was also one who was in a state of disbelief when “we the people” allowed Trump to “win” back in 2016. But, just think how things would have turned out had the democrats not won the midterms in the House, back in 2018 – or the presidency in 2020 – or the Senate and nearly the House – stopping the so-called “red wave” of 2022. Well, it keeps getting more important because those behind “Project 2025” are not easily going to be turned away.

When you think of the DAMAGE being done by the SCOTUS the next four elections will fall into the same category – I won’t be around for all of them (undetermined at this point ;o) – but I can guarantee you the right wingers pushing for fascism have been at this since the days of the New Deal and they won’t be easily denied. To me, they remind me of dry rot – if you don’t get it completely removed it just keeps spreading until the entire structure is destroyed – and, the American people must somehow understand how serious these Project 2025 fascists are. The Koch’s, for example, were part of the John Birch Society (look it up if you’re not familiar) at it’s inception.

Some of the richest of all American families are willing to give up what actually made them rich in the first place – very much RICHER since the Biden/Harris administration first took office – because they don’t like things like “we the people” gaining more and more FREEDOM – from the bottom up and they use their faux “Christianity” to cause so many Christians to believe they are “genuine.” Of course, nothing could be farther from the truth and their cynicism couldn’t be more evident by the fact they’ve chosen Trump as their leader. Talk about your “deal with the devil” for America’s evangelical Christians.

But, I don’t give these Christians a “pass” either (I’m saying that as an [apparent\ liberal Christian. When you take a look at the history of Christianity in America you get a different picture than many would themselves portray it. For example, those parts of the country where you find the “Tea Party” popular you don’t have to go too far back in the history books to be reminded of the horrific racism which existed just a hundred years ago in these places.

And, keep in mind, 100 years puts many of those who are the result of the “greatest generation” (baby boomers – many who support Trump) as children and grandchildren of those responsible for the lynchings of the Jim Crow era. I know this because I was raised by man who was himself raised as an avowed racist – my father went to High School in Wheeling West Virginia (where I was conceived after WW II) – who, thankfully, learned his viewpoints of African Americans was WRONG before he died. That’s a story for another day.

My bottom line here is many people beside myself have been lamenting the DANGERS posed by “today’s” republican party which I’ve stated many times here belongs in the History books right next to Benedict Arnold. it’s Trump and his supporters who attempted the coup d’etat of January 6th, 2021 (Just the other day on Fox “news,” Trump said, regarding the attempt to overthrow our government, “I had every right to do it” (to whoever was interviewing him) while in another interview he admitted he “lost (the 2020 election) by just a little.” Do you think Jack Smith had the record button pushed? I’ve seen this since the days of Reagan, but it got so bad I started writing here in 2008. I know I’m not a professional writer – I just use this space to relieve my frustration levels as I watch our country teetering on becoming a fascist state. I always think, if I can figure this stuff out, why are so many pundits struggling with what seems so obvious? Stay tuned…….

Final Thought: I’m just turning 77 and I’ve always loved playing golf. In the process of doing so MOST of the golfers I’ve met – and, in the league I’m in now I’m one of the youngest – are really fortunate and most don’t give it much thought – they just accept that they deserve this because they’re American. So, I like to ask questions of them about their government without starting political arguments. I’m always amazed at the outcome. Many can’t name ANY of the people who are tasked as their leaders in local, state, or national government. In the years since Citizens’ United v Federal Election Commission I think I could count on one set of fingers (one hand) the number of people I’ve asked if they’ve heard of it who said anything besides “no.” This would include teachers before I retired (in 2014).

So, now, I’ve changed the question because I spend time periodically around a bunch of old “geezers” who can’t play golf any better than myself and many who consider themselves “conservatives.” (Of course, they can’t explain what conservative means) My new question is, “Have you heard of Project 2025?” And, so far, ALL of them have said “no” or “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” When I suggest to them they SHOULD read at least the first part of it, they look at me as if to say, “I quit reading stuff years ago.” When they tell me the only thing interesting them is “the border, inflation, and wars.” To which I say, “You’re obviously watching Fox ‘news.'” Most reply by simply denying it although one guy (who I consider honest) said, “no, I watch Newsmax.” When people say this election is for the soul of our nation, in my view, they “aint” wrong. Yikes!

Just Maybe – the result of the Cheney’s giving republicans the “permission” to vote for a democrat – Ms. Harris. My wish, for years, (since the days of Newt Gingrich) has been for the day when our politics isn’t “us against them.” The reality is we’re all on the same “team.”

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The Unholy Alliance: How Rightwing Preachers Are Weaponizing Our Courts

The NRB’s lawsuit could be the death knell for the Johnson Amendment…

Thom Hartmann Sep 2

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A group representing rightwing preachers is trying to bring about a merger of church and state with a new lawsuit. This is incredibly dangerous. The blowback against their effort has even generated a meme that has gone viral on social media:

Sadly, most Americans don’t understand that when a corporation (churches are corporations) doesn’t have money left over at the end of the year because they spent it all on their mission, they don’t pay a penny in income taxes, whether they’re non-profit or for-profit organizations.

Playing off this ignorance, rightwing preachers across America are howling that Democrats want to stop them from feeding the hungry or helping the poor, a completely 100% BS argument with no basis in reality. And they’re being helped out in this scam by their largest trade association and lobbying group.

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is a group heavily supported by preachers and televangelists, many of whom collectively rake in literally billions of dollars every year that they use for everything from promoting Trump to private jets to 35,000 square foot 40-room lakeside mansions.

And all of it is tax-free: you and I pick up the tab for everything from their police and fire to their use of the nation’s airspace and airwaves. As Leona Helmsley famously said, “Only the little people pay taxes.” And only a few of these folks are “the little people.”

To keep this gravy train rolling along, the NRB and two rightwing churches just launched a federal lawsuit to overturn the so-called Johnson Amendment, part of the IRS’s tax code that says that when nonprofits engage in political activity they lose their tax-exempt status.

We got the Johnson Amendment back in 1954 because rightwing whites-only churches had joined Fred Koch’s John Birch Society in the “massive resistance” movement against the racial integration of public schools mandated that year by the Supreme Court in Brown v Board. It passed that year by a unanimous voice vote in a Republican-controlled senate and was signed into law by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Since the Reagan era, however, the law has been largely ignored. As The Washington Post noted in a 2016 editorial:

“Indeed, more than 2,000 mainly evangelical Christian clergy have deliberately violated the law since 2008 as a form of protest against it; only one has been audited by the IRS, and none punished…” 

When preachers push politics instead of religion on Sunday morning, the so-called Johnson Amendment said, their church should lose its tax-exempt status. As the IRS notes: 

“Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”

The NRB is bringing their suit in a Texas federal court before a Trump-appointed rightwing judge who will almost certainly rule in their favor. From there, it’ll eventually make its way to the Supreme Court, which is clearly the NRB’s goal.

Given the six rightwing Catholics on the Court who’ve already enshrined their Church’s religious doctrine into law with the Dobbs decision, odds are the Johnson Amendment is facing the end of its days.

This is just one more example of how Bush and Trump packing the Court with rightwing religious fanatics — including one who was a member of a Catholic cult where, as The Washington Post notes, she was referred to as a “Handmaid” most of her early life — who are distorting American law and rewriting the Constitution.

Religion is one of the great unregulated realms of American life. There are no federal standards for a person to lead a congregation, become a televangelist, or open a new church. Anybody can do it.

It’s been that way from the beginning of America to this day because we’ve all accepted the Founders’ and Framers’ belief that religion and government should be as separated as possible. As author of the Declaration of Independence and then-President Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association on New Years Day of 1802:

“I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”

Every member of the Constitutional Convention in 1787 agreed, which is why there are two different places in that document that forbid our government from promoting or prohibiting any particular religion or religious doctrine, and outlaws a religious test for holding office.

They did this because of their experience of the previous two hundred years, during which Europeans on this continent brutally inflicted and enforced radical anti-woman religious dogma on our citizens, particularly in New England.

Now, however, Republican judges and politicians, heavily supported by rightwing preachers, want to take us back to that grim era and are working as hard as they can to pull it off.

This is just one more example of how out-of-control the rightwing faction of our court system is, as I lay out in detail in The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America.

It’s why it’s so vital that next year sees the Supreme Court expanded, term limits imposed, Clarence Thomas and Sam Alito impeached, court-stripping legislation put into law, and a binding code of ethics on SCOTUS passed and enforced.

It also requires our federal legislators to get ready now, with legislation to re-impose the Johnson Amendment’s separation-of-church-and-state in a way that the Supreme Court cannot overturn. And the IRS must begin enforcing it.

Rightwing Republican fanatics constantly telegraph their next move, in part to help raise money from their base. Democrats and Republicans who care about our secular republic must stop playing after-the-fact defense and go on the offense now.

Pass it along.

The Hartmann Report is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my daily work to stop rightwing and religious fanatics’ attacks on our Constitution and people, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I watched about the last half of Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National Convention and, as someone who “loves” Joe Biden and what he accomplished I thought the speech was very good – I’m sure republicans will find fault as much as they can get away with (Trump will likely make fun of the stuttering) – but, there was one part that stuck out to me which, as I listened to the “pundits” talking about the evening, no one seemed to think was important. Of course, except me. (It turns out Eugene Robinson noticed the same sentence as I did)

Toward the end of the speech President Biden addressed the war in GAZA and pointed out the importance of that war coming to an end. He also adamantly pointed out (the obvious, at least to me) how important it is to provided food and supplies to the Palestinian people. Then he said something that caught me as incredible in today’s world of division that totally caught me off guard when he said: “Those people out there (referring to those who were protesting in the streets of Chicago for the Palestinians) they have a point.” It seemed to go unnoticed, but, to me, it was a refreshingly honest self criticism based on how the war in GAZA has evolved – with over 40,000 Palestinian citizens killed by the IDF.

My thoughts in this rant will likely seem MORE disconnected than usual. Tonight (day two of the DNC Convention) both Barrack and Michelle Obama were the featured speakers (at least that I saw). I teared up watching both of them (just as I had watching President Biden last night – call me old fashioned) and, while focusing on a positive “path forward” they got in plenty of jabs at Trump. Still, I managed to check out my email messages and, as usual, there was a link to “Raw Story” an outlet I subscribe to which, in their email messages to me, give excerpts from longer “stories.

What caught my eye tonight (well, one of the things that caught my eye) was reporting of Trump speaking in front of a bunch of Police Officers (I’m not sure where – “Livingston?”). He was supposed to be giving an “policy position” address regarding “how you reduce crime.” Now, I’m guessing the following was Trump, once again, straying from the teleprompter – either that or more people in his campaign need to be fired. Here’s part of what he said: “You can’t walk across the street to get a loaf of bread, you get shot, and you get mugged, you get raped, whatever it may be. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it,”

Well, I have to be honest. I HAVEN’T seen it! I’ve driven to the store several times this year (like, maybe 100 times) and I still haven’t seen it. But, what struck me tonight was the immediate thought which crossed my mind when I read his words. I pictured Trump in the store with some of his insurrectionist friends from the “Oathkeepers” or “Proud Boys.” I figured it would be Trump doing the raping (E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels) and his militia buddies doing the shooting. I still haven’t come to a conclusion as to who would be doing the mugging. (Members of the House “Freedom” Caucus? Members of QAnon?)

As an aside: Crime is nearing a 50 year low since Joe Biden became president.

In another location in Chicago where republicans were attempting (and apparently failing) to upstage the DNC Convention Rep Byron Donalds (Fla) was “heaping praise on Trump for his support of Police Officers.” (Apparently, this didn’t include the Capitol and Metropolitan Police Officers circa January 6th, 2021 – but, I digress) when he was asked the following question by a reporter: “President Trump (actually former – my words) has a history of not always paying for bills related to security costs provided at campaign events. So, I’m curious, since you emphasized President Trump’s support of men and women in blue, if you think it’s important for presidential campaigns to pay for protection for local police departments who provide security at those events?”

Rep. Donalds cut off the reporter before she could finish asking her question – you know, it probably made him a bit uncomfortable. Why do I conclude that? Well, the first thing he said was, “that’s a very interesting question.” He followed that brilliant non answer with an even MORE brilliant one. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Maybe he should have interjected something about people being shot and raped?

Speaking of crime: Donald Trump is scheduled for sentencing in reference to his CONVICTION on 34 FELONIES in Manhattan. I have a small tidbit of advice for Judge Merchan; make sure Trump surrenders his passport. I realize he’s got a plane which goes (I don’t know how) far, and he’s been speaking kindly of Venezuela lately because they have no extradition treaty with the U.S. but, well, by now you’re probably reading my mind. (I always figured his landing spot would be in Russia – yes, I’m predicting he will “flee” America once he’s LOST this next election.

The next couple days should be interesting. Trump concluded his convention with a 90 minute rambling soliloquy focused on all his grievances INCLUDING the “Big Lie” (OMG how many of those has he unleashed on “we the people?”) – or so I’m told. I’m guilty of not watching any of the RNC Convention – but, Trump did manage to nominate a VP candidate who’s been widely panned as the least popular in modern times – someone with a history of calling single women “cat ladies” and saying stuff you should check out, but I won’t write here, about his couch – I’ll leave it at that. However, the “ratings” (which Trump is keen to obsess on) are much higher for the dems than for the GOP.

As another aside, when I typed the words GOP I couldn’t help but think of the husband of one of my now deceased sisters when I was talking to him the other day. He’s the kind of artist who likely won’t get famous while he’s still on this side of the dirt, but a very interesting man. (And, very bright) He brought up a word to me – psuedologue which, according to Merriam Webster means “a pathological LIAR.” (my caps) He was laughing as he said “GOP means Grand Old Psuedologues.” I told him I’d add it to a rant and here we are! I think I digressed again.

Final Thought: If you didn’t see her at the DNC Convention, former Trump “White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham confirmed what I’ve been saying for years, kinda. What she said is that Trump once told her “It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie — say it enough and people will believe you.” In case you don’t understand, that’s right out of Mein Kampf – the “Big Lie Theory” – It could have been Joseph Goebbels shouting from his grave – AND – along with the puppeteers behind Project 2025 you see recipe #1 for their road to fascism. They deny this, OF COURSE, but when’s the last time you believed ANYTHING coming from Trump’s mouth? (Or, for that matter, any of the “MAGA” republicans)

Ms. Grisham, who stated she couldn’t believe she was actually speaking at a Democratic Convention, also pointed out how Trump refers to his followers as “bottom dwellers.” I’ve heard him refer to them as his “uneducated voters” – the perfect formula for a fascist. I know, in America, it’s not “kosher” to refer to Hitler or fascists, but, to me, “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, IT’S A DUCK! Trump and republicans are also all about PROJECTION which is another of the core tactics of the Nazi’s in the 1930’s. Trump plays dumb to all of this and, in most instances he is DUMB, but he’s clearly read up on Hitler. (ie “they’re poisoning the blood” or referring to his opponents as “vermin”)

I have to add: Since I mentioned Trump’s (and the republicans) use of projection I was looking for an email and while checking my SPAM folder there was an email from, you guessed it, Donald Trump – asking me for $10. Here’s his sales pitch – the Democrats are raising MILLIONS (my emphasis) in “dark money” ………. can you just send $10? (This coming from the “billionaire” who originally said he could self fund his campaign. I believe he said it this way for emphasis: “I’m really rich.” In addition today he said, “The Obama dark money machine is bankrolling America’s demise.” (Do you think the Obamas got under his skin on day two of the Democratic Convention?)

Then he added “He (Obama) teamed up with the Clinton “cartel” (my quotes) just to humiliate us! the “kicker” was asking for “3 MILLION ‘patriots’ (again my quotes) to chip in and declare your support for Trump.” (To help pay his legal expenses?) Do you find it interesting Trump accuses the democrats of raising dark money, when Elon Musk is pouring $45 MILLION per month into one of Trump’s “Super PAC’?” That’s not to mention the other Silicon Valley billionaires or Sheldon Adelson’s widow who “aims to do whatever it takes to help Trump win, or ???? (Miriam Adelson has about $33 BILLION to work with) As I’ve said, should be interesting.

Oh yes, I think it’s Arizona where republicans are attempting to purge about 40,000 from the election rolls. Just saying…… (Gonna be interesting)

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Down with the Kings: SCOTUS’ Presidential Protection Must Go Support the No Kings Act!

It’s supported by more than half the Democrats in the Senate, along with independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King; not a single Republican had the courage or patriotism to sign onto it….

The song that was inspired by this article is available here.
My reading this article as an audio podcast is available here.

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Republicans this week asked the Supreme Court to throw 40,000 Arizona voters off the voting rolls. This is not the sort of case the Framers of the Constitution meant for the Court to be deciding; for the past few decades, since rightwingers took over the Court, it’s been regularly overstepping its charter.

Similarly, Donald Trump’s criminal attempt to overthrow our government on January 6th is now back before Judge Tanya Chutkan’s court, although whatever decision she renders will instantly be appealed by Trump’s lawyers back to his friends on the Supreme Court. Tragically, justice will be a long time coming.

And now Senator Chuck Schumer and Congress want to do something about it.

When the six corrupt and well-bribed Republicans on the US Supreme Court gave Donald Trump immunity from prosecution for crimes he committed while president, they not only “broke” the law but defied the Constitution itself. This offense to our republic’s rule of law demands reversal, and Congress, at the moment, is the only venue where that can be done.

In this case, the Republicans on the Court created a new doctrine of presidential immunity out of thin air. Not only is this a violation of American law, but it also contradicts the authorities the Constitution gave the Court. As Justice Sonya Sotomayor pointed out in her dissent (see below), it’s quite literally unprecedented, a massive power grab, and a corruption of our republican Constitution.

There is a remedy, but to understand it you must first understand the nature and constitutional powers of the Court itself, as I lay out in detail in The Hidden History of the Supreme Court and the Betrayal of America.

While the Constitution created the House, Senate, and the Presidency and Vice Presidency, its authors left the definition of the size, nature, and budget of the Supreme Court to Congress itself. The Supreme Court didn’t even come into being until Congress passed a law defining it. From Article III, Section 1:

“The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish.”

Thus, on September 24, 1789 Congress created the Supreme Court via the Judiciary Act of 1789:

“Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the supreme court of the United States shall consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, any four of whom shall be a quorum, and shall hold annually at the seat of government two sessions…”

Not only was the Supreme Court to be the creation of Congress, but the Framers of the Constitution further specified that it was to operate directly under the supervision and regulation of Congress itself, which even had the power to define entire areas of law where the Supreme Court could be forbidden from ruling. Per Article III, Section 2:

“[T]he supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.”

This was because the Framers of the Constitution wanted the Court to be the weakest, least powerful branch of our government for the simple reason that — its members being appointed, and for life at that — it is the only branch entirely unaccountable to We the People.

In his and Madison’s sales pitch for the Constitution, Alexander Hamilton, on May 28, 1788, wrote in Federalist 78, that the courts, including the Supreme Court, were the weakest of the three branches created by the Constitution. After all, at that time it wasn’t envisioned that they would ever have the power to strike down laws passed by Congress or create law or policy out of thin air (like saying the president has immunity from prosecution for crimes).

“[T]he judiciary is beyond comparison the weakest of the three departments of power,” he wrote, adding in the same sentence that “it can never attack with success either of the other two [branches].”

He even footnoted that sentence with a quote from the famous French judge Montesquieu, who had first famously articulated the idea of a separation of powers between governmental branches as a check and balance. Hamilton’s footnote read:

“The celebrated Montesquieu, speaking of them, says: ‘Of the three powers above mentioned, the judiciary is next to nothing.’”

Don’t tell that to the Republicans on the Court, however; after years of stroking and bribes from rightwing billionaires, they’ve come to think of themselves as the true kings and queens of America rather than mere servants to the Constitution and our nation’s legal processes.

Consider, for example, that notorious partisan liar Sam Alito when, a year ago July, he wrote  in The Wall Street Journal:

“No provision in the Constitution gives [Congress] the authority to regulate the Supreme Court—period.”

Or two weeks ago’s absurdity when Neil Gorsuch had the audacity to warn President Biden, who just proposed a binding code of ethics for the Supreme Court as well as term limits, that he should “be careful.”

As noted above, the Constitution did not create the Supreme Court; it merely identified it and authorized Congress to bring it into being. It did this on September 24, 1798 — about half a year after the first Congress was sworn into office on March 4, 1798 and President George Washington was sworn into office on April 30, 1798 — when Congress also simultaneously created the rest of the federal court system.

Even worse, there is not a single place in the Constitution where the Supreme Court is authorized to either create or strike down laws.

Creating laws or policy for the United States is an authority given exclusively to Congress.  All laws must originate, in fact, with the House of Representatives because they’re elected every 2 years and thus “closest to the people,” then go to the Senate, and generally only become law with the approval/signature of the president.

Similarly, striking down all or parts of laws or creating policies out of whole cloth —like “presidential immunity” — is an authority that is also only given to Congress by the Constitution. There’s not a single word in the entire document authorizing the Supreme Court to do such things.

In 1803, in the case of Marbury v Madison, the Supreme Court took onto itself the limited power to strike down laws which they believed conflicted with the Constitution. President Thomas Jefferson was horrified, writing to his old friend Virginia Supreme Court Justice Spencer Roane:

“If this opinion be sound then indeed is our Constitution a complete felo de se [a suicide pact]. For intending to establish three departments, coordinate and independent, that they might check and balance one another, it has given, according to this opinion, to one of them alone, the right to prescribe rules for the government of the others, and to that one too, which is unelected by, and independent of the nation. …

“The Constitution, on this hypothesis, is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.”

But even at that, the 1803 Marshall Court didn’t try to create new law out of thin air like the six Republicans on the Court did last month when they created a brand-new never-before-seen-or-considered doctrine of presidential immunity.

Even Chief Justice Roger Taney’s 1856 Dred Scott v Sanford decision which declared that every Black person, even in the north, should become the property of a white person (which President Lincoln explicitly chose to ignore) was grounded in references to the Constitution’s original protections of slavery.

Similarly, Chief Justice Morrison Remick Waite’s 1886 comment reproduced in the headnote to the Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad case, which later courts exploited to grant “personhood” to corporations (as I examined at length in my book Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became “People”), was based in the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment.

And those were the two single most egregious decisions of the entire 19th century! Arguably the most controversial decisions of the 20th century were Brown v Board and Roe v Wade and, again, both were grounded in the Constitution itself.

While the opinion, concurrences, and dissents in Trump v United States — the case giving Trump immunity for “official acts” — includes 219 references to the “Constitution,” the only direct quote used to justify giving the president immunity to commit crimes while in office is from Article II: “[T]he executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”

Everything else is a twisting and perversion of previous cases, opinions, and the meaning of “executive Power.” The six Republican justices pulled this doctrine allowing for a criminal presidency out of their own backsides; it has absolutely no basis in law, history, or the Constitution.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent:

“Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law.

“Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for ‘bold and unhesitating action’ by the President, the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more. Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent. …

“The Court now confronts a question it has never had to answer in the Nation’s history: Whether a former President enjoys immunity from federal criminal prosecution. The majority thinks he should, and so it invents an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law. …

“Argument by argument, the majority invents immunity through brute force. Under scrutiny, its arguments crumble. To start, the majority’s broad ‘official acts’ immunity is inconsistent with text, history, and established understandings of the President’s role. Moreover, it is deeply wrong, even on its own functionalist terms.

“Next, the majority’s ‘core’ immunity is both unnecessary and misguided. Furthermore, the majority’s illogical evidentiary holding is unprecedented. Finally, this majority’s project will have disastrous consequences for the Presidency and for our democracy.” (emphasis added)

She notes that in Federalist 69, “Alexander Hamilton wrote that former Presidents would be ‘liable to prosecution and punishment in the ordinary course of law,’” adding that the Constitution gives limited immunity to Congress under the Speech and Debate Clause, but there is no such guarantee for the president.

This issue of keeping presidential immunity out of the Constitution was not an accident or oversight by the Framers; it was debated at length during the Constitutional Convention in the summer and fall of 1787 and the delegates (including Hamilton) decided to omit any criminal immunity whatsoever for the president.

As Sotomayor continues:

“In sum, the majority today endorses an expansive vision of Presidential immunity that was never recognized by the Founders, any sitting President, the Executive Branch, or even President Trump’s lawyers, until now. Settled understandings of the Constitution are of little use to the majority in this case, and so it ignores them.”

In response to this bizarre decision which the Republicans on the Supreme Court have forced on the American people, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has introduced the No Kings Act.

The proposed law reverses the Supreme Court’s grant of criminal immunity to Donald Trump and all present and future presidents, as well as — using the “exceptions” clause of Article III, Section 2 — stripping from the Court the power to reverse or even rule on the law.

It’s supported by more than half the Democrats in the Senate, along with independents Bernie Sanders and Angus King; not a single Republican had the courage or patriotism to sign onto it.

Call your two senators and the House member who represents you and demand passage of the No Kings Act and legislation to get the corrupt Republicans on this run-amok Court under control.

As Justice Sotomayor wrote, “with fear for our democracy,” we must all dissent.

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