Justice Antonin Scalia

Mitch McConnell, Longest Serving Senate Leader, To Leave, After Tremendous Damage Done Over The Years! :(

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Kentucky Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, who has served longer in party and Senate leadership than anyone in American history, will leave his role in the Senate after the Presidential Election of 2024.

Arguably the single most important Senate leader since Lyndon B. Johnson was Majority Leader from 1955-1961 before his rise to the Vice Presidency and Presidency, McConnell single handedly caused tremendous damage in so many ways.

Among them was his refusal to allow a Supreme Court nominee by Barack Obama in 2016 after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia; McConnell’s ramming through the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett in the Fall of 2020 before the election after the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg; his promotion of a massive number of right wing judges onto the federal courts; and his unwillingness to vote to convict Trump on impeachment charges in the days before the end of the Presidential term after the horrendous events of January 6, 2021.

The extremist right wing tilt of the Supreme Court, and its moves against abortion, affirmative action, and promotion of lack of regulation of guns, is primarily due to this man, and he will not look good in the annals of history, for having helped emboldened Donald Trump, even though Trump does not appreciate what McConnell did!

Supreme Court Reputation At All Time Low!

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The Supreme Court of the United States once was the most highly honored government institution, with a reputation of having the highest ethics, and beyond politics!

However, the Roberts Court, in place now for 18 years since 2005, has lost all credibility, as it has struck out against basic constitutional rights relating to women, race, and sexuality, and has promoted a gun culture; advocated religion (Christianity) over civil rights; and worked to limit voting rights.

The two Bush appointees—Clarence Thomas (George H. W. Bush), and Samuel Alito (George W. Bush) have become the most horrendous, narrow minded Supreme Court Justices of the past century, more so than Antonin Scalia and William Rehnquist, in their negative influence on constitutional law.

Roberts himself, who is so concerned about the negative image of the Court, has been unwilling to promote the concept of ethics reform, despite the clearcut scandals of both Thomas and Alito, but also including himself and even some by other Court members.

So Roberts, the 17th Chief Justice in American history, will not have a great historical reputation in the future, and the Court’s misbehavior will lead to a move to change the future of the Court, including, possibly, future expansion of the Court; or term limits for future Justices; and mandated ethics reforms when and if the Democrats can have solid control of the legislative agenda in some future Congress, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Roberts, himself, has already served as Chief Justice longer than most of that select group of 17, and it would be a good situation if he, with 18 years; Alito with 17 years; and Thomas with 32 years (12th longest of all Supreme Court Justices) were to retire soon, but that is very unlikely to occur anytime soon!

Donald Trump’s Full Scale Attack On The First Amendment, While Endorsing No Limit On The Second Amendment, A Danger To America

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Donald Trump has mounted a full scale attack on the First Amendment freedom of speech and press, while endorsing no limit on the Second Amendment, despite the recent Las Vegas Massacre, and is therefore a danger to America.

If it were left up to Trump, many cable TV channels, such as CNN and MSNBC, would be denied licenses to operate, but thankfully, no such mechanism exists to suppress the First Amendment.

Also, Trump wishes to suppress freedom of speech for National Football League players to protest the treatment of African Americans and other minorities by police.

And he seems to think that everyone MUST stand for the flag and the National Anthem, while the Supreme Court has declared that the flag need not be obeyed, and in fact, can be burned in protest, something much more extreme than bending the knee for the flag.

The case on this is Texas V Johnson (1989), with Justice Antonin Scalia, certainly the most conservative Justice in a century, writing the majority opinion.

What Trump is doing was denounced by principled conservative Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, who has been against Trump from before the election. He said yesterday that Trump is violating his oath of office by refusing to defend the Constitution, which includes the Bill of Rights, and that Trump had, therefore, committed an impeachable act.

Trump sounds more like Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler, or other totalitarian dictators than the leader of a democracy, and he is a clear and present danger to all Americans, as a result.

The possibility of moving toward impeachment is starting to grow, as Sasse joins Senator Bob Corker in warning against the threat that Trump clearly presents the nation.

Trump seems to be unraveling, as reported by journalists who have contacts within the staff of Donald Trump, reminding us of the last days of Richard Nixon.

But if anything, Richard Nixon was far less dangerous than Donald Trump is, as Trump has been collaborating with Russia, while Nixon understood the threat presented by Russia.

Also, Nixon was not out to destroy all domestic reform of the previous hundred years, as Trump is in the process of doing, with ObamaCare, the environment, consumer legislation, and government regulation of business.

And Trump is also out to destroy the Iran Deal, go to war with North Korea, and destroy all areas of our foreign policy with other nations.

So the need for prompt action, before Trump must be wrestled for control of the nuclear codes, is real!

Tea Party Effect On Conservatism: Representative Bob Inglis And Senator Robert Bennett As Victims!

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The rise of the Tea Party Movement has had a deleterious effect on the Republican Party, leaving in its wake the defeat of a solid conservative Republican who dared to defy the extremists of the movement, who have promoted irresponsible rhetoric and advocated right wing populist ideas!

Representative Bob Inglis of South Carolina is one of the victims of the movement, a person with a solid conservative record in the House of Representatives, but unwilling to go along with the irresponsible statements, actions and beliefs of this right wing populist movement!

Inglis will leave Congress at the end of this year as one Republican who refused to call Barack Obama a Socialist or contend Obama does not have a birth certificate! He also believes the politics of personal destruction is wrong, and that global warming really does exist!

Inglis does not believe in tearing down institutions or promoting character assassination, which he contends the Tea Party Movement is active in advocating! He calls the Tea Party right wing populism as similar to the French Revolution in its irresponsibility! They are acting in a demagogic way, and he worries that it is destroying mainline conservative values!

Another Republican similar to Inglis in views and attitude about the Tea Party Movement is the defeated Utah Senator Robert Bennett, who is being replaced by Tea Party favorite Mike Lee in January!

Many mainstream conservatives are concerned, as Inglis and Bennett are, that the Tea Party radicalism will lead to the destruction of the GOP, and that it is a danger to the political stability of the nation!

In many ways, it can be compared to the anti immigrant, extremist views of the American Party, known unofficially as the Know Nothings in the 1850s!

Ignorance, prejudice, nativism, and hatred, combined with extreme libertarianism and constitutional “originalism” in the direction of Justice Antonin Scalia’s 18th century views is a threat to the future of the nation, and we are now at a crossroads of potential division the most dangerous since the Civil War! 🙁