Every day is January 6.

January 6, 2024

Every day is January 6. American democracy prevailed on January 6 because good people made extraordinary sacrifices to protect the Constitution and the rule of law. Good people did their jobs. Good people honored their oaths. Good people put themselves in harm’s way. Good people spoke the truth. Good people stared down a violent mob.

The mob was repelled on January 6—but has regrouped during the last three years. It assaults democracy anew each day with lies and threats of violence. It sees the Constitution as an obstacle to power. It sees honest politicians who honor their oaths as the enemy.

But take heart! There are more good people willing to defend the Constitution than members of the mob trying to bend it to their will. The good people who rallied to its defense on January 6 have prevailed in most political battles since January 6—and have every reason to believe they will do so in the future.

We must continue our resistance with the spirit of January 6 in our hearts and minds. Democracy is at stake—it always is. The only thing that has changed is that opponents of democracy have emerged from the shadows, setting their shame aside because their leader is shameless. But those who seek to protect and preserve democracy have the good fortune of being led by a good and decent man.

On the third anniversary of January 6, that good man—Joe Biden—spoke to the American people about the challenges we will face together as we defend democracy against the mob. He asked for our support. We should give it to him without reservation or doubt. Because in supporting him, we are supporting the Constitution—and ourselves.

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Joe Biden’s speech at Valley Forge on the anniversary of January 6.

President Joe Biden spoke at a college near Valley Forge on the eve of the third anniversary of January 6. He spoke in plain and strong words to describe the threat to democracy posed by Donald Trump. Biden did not shy away from describing Trump's past crimes, his narcissism, lies, and dereliction of duty.

A video of the 30-minute speech is here, NBC News, Biden speaks at Valley Forge ahead of Jan. 6 anniversary, and key passages are here: Key quotes from US President Biden's Jan. 6 democracy speech.

Biden said, in part,

Today we're here to answer the most important of questions. Is democracy still America's sacred cause?

This is not rhetorical, academic, or hypothetical. Whether democracy is still America's sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time. That's what the 2024 election is all about.

These MAGA voices who know the truth about Trump on January 6 have abandoned the truth and abandoned democracy. They made their choice. Now the rest of us, Democrats, independents, mainstream Republicans, need to make our choice.

Donald Trump's campaign is about him. Not America, not you. Donald Trump's campaign is obsessed with the past. Not the future. He's willing to sacrifice our democracy to put himself in power.

I will post the full text of the speech at the top of the Comment section when the full speech becomes available. (The Biden campaign needs to make it easier to share Biden’s speeches!) In the meantime, I urge you to watch the video of Biden’s speech.

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Supreme Court agrees to review the decision of the Colorado Supreme Court.

The US Supreme Court agreed to review Colorado’s decision to bar Trump from the state’s primary ballot. The Supreme Court set an expedited schedule for oral argument—February 8, 2024.

There will be time to analyze this development in detail as the parties file their briefs, but let’s look at a few high-level questions.

Why did the Supreme Court grant review? It had no choice. The Colorado and Maine decisions raise important constitutional questions that conflict with decisions by other states. The most important function of the Supreme Court is to bring order and uniformity to lower court decisions in the application of federal law.

What should the Supreme Court do? It should uphold Colorado’s decision by giving effect to the plain words of the Constitution. Justice Thomas should recuse himself from the case.

What will the Supreme Court do? Sadly, there is little reason to believe the Court will do the right thing. The reactionary majority has demonstrated its willingness to promote a partisan political agenda dictated by the dark money sponsors of the Federalist Society. Trump's lawyer took to the airwaves on Friday to remind Justice Kavanaugh that he owed his seat on the Court to Trump. John Roberts is a feckless chief justice who has lost the respect of his colleagues. Justice Thomas will continue his corrupt participation in cases where his wife is a material witness (at least).

What should we do? Gain control of the House, increase our margin of control of the Senate, re-elect Joe Biden—and then expand the Supreme Court to break the death-grip of the reactionary majority on the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution. We cannot wait a generation for membership on the Court to change. Expanding the Court requires only a majority vote in both chambers of Congress and the signature of the president.  

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The US Supreme Court to consider emergency care (including abortion) to protect the health of pregnant women.

The Supreme Court agreed to review two cases that raise the question of whether federal law can require emergency care—including abortions—to protect the life and health of pregnant women. Ian Millhiser explains the background and implications of the cases in Vox, The Supreme Court’s new, nightmare abortion cases could sentence women to die.

The Supreme Court was expected to grant review in the cases, both of which involve a clash between state law and federal law. But the Supreme Court suspended a lower court ruling that federal law preempts state law—a bedrock principle of our constitutional democracy. The Supreme Court’s order suspending the lower court ruling is a bad sign for the Court’s ultimate disposition of these cases.

As Ian Millhiser writes—and as other commentators have noted—the Dobbs decision has turned courts into “death panels” that require women to be in imminent danger of death before they can receive emergency medical care.

The cases will be argued in April and should be decided by June 2024. The Supreme Court should rule that federal law preempts state law—thereby allowing for emergency medical treatment of pregnant women. But if the Court fails to uphold the supremacy of federal law—which guarantees emergency medical treatment to pregnant women—voters will be aware of that fact before the 2024 election.

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Strong December jobs report brings a good economic year to a close.

The December jobs report contained more good news for American workers. See Yahoo Finance, December jobs report: US economy adds 216,000 jobs, shocking Wall Street. President Biden issued a statement that highlighted the good economic news from 2023:

This morning’s report confirms that 2023 was a great year for American workers. The economy created 2.7 million new jobs in 2023—a year when the unemployment rate was consistently below 4 percent—more jobs than during any year of the prior Administration.

The strong job creation continued even as inflation fell to the pre-pandemic level of 2 percent over the last six months, and key prices have fallen over the last year—for a gallon of gas, a gallon of milk, toys, appliances, car rentals, and airline fares. American workers’ wages and wealth are higher now than before the pandemic began, adjusting for inflation.

Note the fact about inflation included above—"inflation fell to the pre-pandemic level of 2 percent over the last six months.”

Remember when inflation was 9% and that fact was headline news in every media outlet in the nation? Now that inflation has subsided, the news is not even in the front section of most major outlets. The NYTimes, for example, includes the story on the first page of its Business Section—but has no story about the positive economic report in Section A of the paper. And pundits are befuddled as to why Americans do not recognize the improvement in the economy.

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Join me as Indivisible Marin kicks off its 2024 efforts!

Indivisible Marin is a great organization that brings people together who share a common commitment:

A personal commitment to each do what we can do, to take simple action steps, and to rely on the belief that our collective acts of one will bring about the crucial election wins for Democrats across the board in 2024. Our goal is a more just, caring and inclusive America with our democracy and freedoms intact and protected for future generations.

Indivisible Marin has asked me to help kick off its 2024 season on Tuesday, January 9 at 5:30 PM Pacific. The program’s title is “IndiMarin's 2024 Kickoff: "Multiplying the Power of One " with Special Guest Robert Hubbell.” You can register here: Click here to register.

If you are looking for a home base for your activism in 2024, IndiMarin is a great organization. Check it out, and I hope to see you on the Zoom!

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Concluding Thoughts.

There are other stories worthy of comment (Trump's receipt of $8 million from foreign governments while in office, NY’s demand for $370 million in civil damages from Trump for fraud, and congressional negotiations over the budget). But it’s the weekend, and I have already covered a lot of ground. Knowing when to stop is a lost art.

There is a signal in the noise that we should not overlook: Although there are dozens of stories competing for our attention, they generally provide potentially positive outcomes for Democrats and disastrous outcomes for Trump / MAGA extremists. While not every story will turn out the way we hope, the averages are in our favor.

We don’t need to win every battle, or even most of them. In a situation where Trump is facing multiple routes to disaster, one or two bad breaks for Trump could change the tilt of the playing field. While we can’t wait for events to overtake Trump, that possibility exists—and we should welcome good fortune if it arrives.

Biden has been forced to compete on an uneven playing field for three years. Trump is now on the defensive. Let’s not be distracted by events over which we have no control; instead, we should focus on those outcomes where our efforts will make a difference—as we wait to learn if Trump will finally, at long last, be held to account for his high crimes and misdemeanors.

Talk to you on Monday!