The only way the "reactionary majority" is going to be when they die and there are new justices seated. Either that or get 55 Democrats elected to the Senate, kill the filibuster and enlarge the court. (I recommend more than 51, due to the fact some "Democrats" aren't Democrats)
Robert, I appreciated your comments about the Modi visit. I am grateful to have a President and team who understand complexity and competing interests, and I also recognize that there are obviously many facts we do not know. I also respect a party that tolerates disagreement within its ranks--healthy, as you say. Finally, it occurs to me that folks around the world are looking at the US as a country withdrawing women’s rights, banning books, outlawing healthcare, making it more difficult to vote, etc. Their leaders, too, must struggle with their messaging regarding the US. More motivation to turn this around!
Unfortunately most voters do not pay much attention to Supreme Court rulings unless they are major changes in the law that impact them personally. A group of billionaire conservative Republicans over many years have built and implemented a vast network to train, groom and help select Supreme Court justices and then ply them with gifts and favors to continue the influence. Until we demand and implement ethics rules and regulations changes that are enforced this will continue. For a select group of voters this could be a burning issue. On another note Heather Cox Richardson brought to light this fact which I am sharing with you. “ ,”A study out today by Media Matters shows that cable news networks are “obsessed over Biden’s age while overwhelmingly ignoring Trump’s.” Biden is only three years older than Trump—80 and 77, respectively—and apparently in significantly better health, but in the week after Biden announced his reelection campaign, CNN, the Fox News Channel, and MSNBC mentioned his age 588 times, suggesting it is a negative attribute rather than a positive reflection on his experience, while mentioning Trump’s only 72 times. Stay dry.
Re “Modi” Operandi (nice word play BTW), I too am disappointed that we need to make peace w autocrats in service of long term interests. But at 77, I’ve come to accept the world as messy, despite my personal preferences. I have no quarrel w AOC and others walking out on Modi’s address—in fact I’m proud to identify w a party whose members compete for the moral high ground rather than for being the best groveller.
Winston Churchill was a dedicated, lifelong anti-Communist. (In 1918, he ordered British troops into Russia in an attempt to oust the Bolsheviks.). But when asked in 1941 whether Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union would make that country an ally of Britain, he replied, “If Hitler invaded Hell, I should at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” So it is with Modi’s state visit. In foreign affairs, Biden’s opportunities for righteousness are few and far between.
Thank you for correctly referring to the right wing as “reactionary”. That is entirely correct. I cringe when people refer to the right wing as “radical”. Radical proudly refers to the Left. I am a Radical.
You got my heart beating and my blood pressure rising again, Robert. Today, I watched Biden welcome Modi and then I waited for him to say something about the human tragedies happening in India. He skated through that part. Also news reporters have had their credentials, film, and interviews seized by the “authorities” there. That’s hardly a democracy! Modi is talking with forked tongue, in my opinion. I worry for India’s people who have been oppressed. Jobs will be created with our help, but at what cost?
So let me just indulge in the subject of Fake 45’s lawyers getting Jack Smith’s information as to who will be testifying against him. He has now seen the list and I imagine it is quite extensive. I imagine Fake 45 throwing ketchup everywhere. Anyhow, it’s delicious!
Robert, you did an absolutely beautiful job of describing why the Modi visit was a good thing, and yet, why it was reasonable for a handful of left wing congresspeople not to attend. You caught the complexity of governing a nation in a wild world, and how both Biden, and Tlaib et al. did admirably.
Your legal expertise certainly gives me lots to "chew on" in these complicated times, particularly since the SCOTUS in my opinion is illegitimate. I won't even vent about my disgust on who is writing the majority opinion these days (after years of silent presence and not recusing himself on major cases directly involving his wife's actions and influence.)
HOW I WOULD LOVE TO SEE BRYAN STEVENSON appointed as a Supreme Court Justice!!!
Wow! The "reactionary majority" is now showing how the chaos of the Dobbs "mandate" (it isn't a decision in the sense of applying logic and the Constitution) is spreading to every "mandate" the Court is now making. The chaos of the military if you allow the legislators the power to override the military leaders! The chaos of drugs where the legislators override the doctors. The cruelty and unfairness of a person not ever being proven innocent after once being proven guilty. Of course, there is never a person who was wrongly accused and found guilty! The government isn't fallible! Wow! The Affirmative Action case will be the same because Injustice Thomas has a personal vendetta against it. He feels that he didn't get any job offers from top law firms when he graduated from Yale Law School because he was considered by affirmative action to be the token black that got into Yale without merit. See the PBS exposee of the Thomases: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/clarence-and-ginni-thomas/ Then if they go with the independent legislature so the state courts cannot pass judgement on anything the legislature does we're in heap big trouble, as if we weren't already with this clown court. -- This anti-democracy court. This theolikle court. We need to quit talking among ourselves and convince every person we know no matter what their political persuasion is to hold the Republicans accountable by not voting for them. We need a House and Senate capable of impeaching Alito, Thomas and Roberts! Also term limits and a non-partisan process for nominating and confirming Justices. We, the People, ALL OF US, this time.
I appreciate the measured way Robert discussed President Biden's handling of the Modi visit to Washington. He insightfully describes the president's challenges as our supreme diplomat while acknowledging the risks he takes to our reputation as a great democracy.
Robert, do you know how SCOTUS determines which cases they will hear ? Jones V Hendrix…😥
SCOTUS recently declined to hear heartbreaking case of a local FL man and he was just denied parole.
Florida leads the nation in death penalty exonerations. Thanks to DeSantis, Florida now requires only 8 of 12 jurors for capital punishment.
“ In April 2021, Mr. Green was released from prison on conditional release (house arrest) while his case was pending appeal. While living in Titusville, Fla. during the past two years, Mr. Green has held full-time employment, become part of a church community, and spent time with family—including meeting grandkids for the first time. The state of Florida appealed the decision, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Mr. Green's victory. The Supreme Court declined to take up Mr. Green's case on February 27, 2023. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District for Florida ordered Mr. Green to return to custody of the Florida Department of Corrections to complete his sentence.”
As others have written, thank you for calling out the SC majority as “reactionary” and not “radical”. Similarly, the media generally is being far too generous in referring to certain GOP reactionaries (or, as I prefer, “whackos”) as “conservatives.” Although being generally liberal in my views, I have no quarrel with true conservatives, as defined by Oakeshott:
“To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.”
The only way the "reactionary majority" is going to be when they die and there are new justices seated. Either that or get 55 Democrats elected to the Senate, kill the filibuster and enlarge the court. (I recommend more than 51, due to the fact some "Democrats" aren't Democrats)
You know you're really good, Robert, when you mis-speak (Scalia/Alito) and the universe adjusts the news to make you right! 🤣
Robert, I appreciated your comments about the Modi visit. I am grateful to have a President and team who understand complexity and competing interests, and I also recognize that there are obviously many facts we do not know. I also respect a party that tolerates disagreement within its ranks--healthy, as you say. Finally, it occurs to me that folks around the world are looking at the US as a country withdrawing women’s rights, banning books, outlawing healthcare, making it more difficult to vote, etc. Their leaders, too, must struggle with their messaging regarding the US. More motivation to turn this around!
Unfortunately most voters do not pay much attention to Supreme Court rulings unless they are major changes in the law that impact them personally. A group of billionaire conservative Republicans over many years have built and implemented a vast network to train, groom and help select Supreme Court justices and then ply them with gifts and favors to continue the influence. Until we demand and implement ethics rules and regulations changes that are enforced this will continue. For a select group of voters this could be a burning issue. On another note Heather Cox Richardson brought to light this fact which I am sharing with you. “ ,”A study out today by Media Matters shows that cable news networks are “obsessed over Biden’s age while overwhelmingly ignoring Trump’s.” Biden is only three years older than Trump—80 and 77, respectively—and apparently in significantly better health, but in the week after Biden announced his reelection campaign, CNN, the Fox News Channel, and MSNBC mentioned his age 588 times, suggesting it is a negative attribute rather than a positive reflection on his experience, while mentioning Trump’s only 72 times. Stay dry.
Re “Modi” Operandi (nice word play BTW), I too am disappointed that we need to make peace w autocrats in service of long term interests. But at 77, I’ve come to accept the world as messy, despite my personal preferences. I have no quarrel w AOC and others walking out on Modi’s address—in fact I’m proud to identify w a party whose members compete for the moral high ground rather than for being the best groveller.
Winston Churchill was a dedicated, lifelong anti-Communist. (In 1918, he ordered British troops into Russia in an attempt to oust the Bolsheviks.). But when asked in 1941 whether Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union would make that country an ally of Britain, he replied, “If Hitler invaded Hell, I should at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons.” So it is with Modi’s state visit. In foreign affairs, Biden’s opportunities for righteousness are few and far between.
Thank you for correctly referring to the right wing as “reactionary”. That is entirely correct. I cringe when people refer to the right wing as “radical”. Radical proudly refers to the Left. I am a Radical.
Justice Thomas et. al., are reactionaries.
You got my heart beating and my blood pressure rising again, Robert. Today, I watched Biden welcome Modi and then I waited for him to say something about the human tragedies happening in India. He skated through that part. Also news reporters have had their credentials, film, and interviews seized by the “authorities” there. That’s hardly a democracy! Modi is talking with forked tongue, in my opinion. I worry for India’s people who have been oppressed. Jobs will be created with our help, but at what cost?
So let me just indulge in the subject of Fake 45’s lawyers getting Jack Smith’s information as to who will be testifying against him. He has now seen the list and I imagine it is quite extensive. I imagine Fake 45 throwing ketchup everywhere. Anyhow, it’s delicious!
Scalia - Alito ... tomato-tomahto
Robert, you did an absolutely beautiful job of describing why the Modi visit was a good thing, and yet, why it was reasonable for a handful of left wing congresspeople not to attend. You caught the complexity of governing a nation in a wild world, and how both Biden, and Tlaib et al. did admirably.
Your legal expertise certainly gives me lots to "chew on" in these complicated times, particularly since the SCOTUS in my opinion is illegitimate. I won't even vent about my disgust on who is writing the majority opinion these days (after years of silent presence and not recusing himself on major cases directly involving his wife's actions and influence.)
HOW I WOULD LOVE TO SEE BRYAN STEVENSON appointed as a Supreme Court Justice!!!
Wow! The "reactionary majority" is now showing how the chaos of the Dobbs "mandate" (it isn't a decision in the sense of applying logic and the Constitution) is spreading to every "mandate" the Court is now making. The chaos of the military if you allow the legislators the power to override the military leaders! The chaos of drugs where the legislators override the doctors. The cruelty and unfairness of a person not ever being proven innocent after once being proven guilty. Of course, there is never a person who was wrongly accused and found guilty! The government isn't fallible! Wow! The Affirmative Action case will be the same because Injustice Thomas has a personal vendetta against it. He feels that he didn't get any job offers from top law firms when he graduated from Yale Law School because he was considered by affirmative action to be the token black that got into Yale without merit. See the PBS exposee of the Thomases: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/clarence-and-ginni-thomas/ Then if they go with the independent legislature so the state courts cannot pass judgement on anything the legislature does we're in heap big trouble, as if we weren't already with this clown court. -- This anti-democracy court. This theolikle court. We need to quit talking among ourselves and convince every person we know no matter what their political persuasion is to hold the Republicans accountable by not voting for them. We need a House and Senate capable of impeaching Alito, Thomas and Roberts! Also term limits and a non-partisan process for nominating and confirming Justices. We, the People, ALL OF US, this time.
"____________ has chosen finality over error correction." Fill in the blank. How sad. How awful.
I appreciate the measured way Robert discussed President Biden's handling of the Modi visit to Washington. He insightfully describes the president's challenges as our supreme diplomat while acknowledging the risks he takes to our reputation as a great democracy.
Robert, do you know how SCOTUS determines which cases they will hear ? Jones V Hendrix…😥
SCOTUS recently declined to hear heartbreaking case of a local FL man and he was just denied parole.
Florida leads the nation in death penalty exonerations. Thanks to DeSantis, Florida now requires only 8 of 12 jurors for capital punishment.
“ In April 2021, Mr. Green was released from prison on conditional release (house arrest) while his case was pending appeal. While living in Titusville, Fla. during the past two years, Mr. Green has held full-time employment, become part of a church community, and spent time with family—including meeting grandkids for the first time. The state of Florida appealed the decision, and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Mr. Green's victory. The Supreme Court declined to take up Mr. Green's case on February 27, 2023. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District for Florida ordered Mr. Green to return to custody of the Florida Department of Corrections to complete his sentence.”
https://www.nbc12.com/prnewswire/2023/06/22/florida-commission-denies-parole-crosley-green/
As others have written, thank you for calling out the SC majority as “reactionary” and not “radical”. Similarly, the media generally is being far too generous in referring to certain GOP reactionaries (or, as I prefer, “whackos”) as “conservatives.” Although being generally liberal in my views, I have no quarrel with true conservatives, as defined by Oakeshott:
“To be conservative, then, is to prefer the familiar to the unknown, to prefer the tried to the untried, fact to mystery, the actual to the possible, the limited to the unbounded, the near to the distant, the sufficient to the superabundant, the convenient to the perfect, present laughter to utopian bliss.”