Associate Justice Samuel Alito

The Ten Greatest Political Villains Of 2022! And An Addendum!

Ronald 3 Comments

Yesterday, I published a post on the ten greatest Political Heroes of 2022.

So now, it is time to indicate who I believe are the ten greatest Political Villains of 2022!

In no special order, I would list the following:

Republican House Minority Leader, possibly Speaker of the House (hopefully not), Kevin McCarthy of California, who time again and again showed he had no spine, being a supplicant to Donald Trump, and demonstrating no principle or ethics in his crazed desire to be Speaker, two heartbeats away from the Presidency. The thought of him being that close in the line of succession is horrifying, not that there are very good alternatives!

Election Denier, and symbol with clenched fist, Republican Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, who promoted sedition and treason! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Election Denier and most obnoxious Senator (with other competitors), Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who this author and blogger thought in 2016 was the most dangerous Republican running for President, even more than Donald Trump! He faces reelection in 2024 and should be soundly defeated!

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a man who once had some intelligence, but after Arizona Senator John McCain died, has become a total Donald Trump sycophant!

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, a very unstable and unpricipled excuse for a human being, who, somehow, was able to defeat one of the best US Senators of modern times, Russ Feingold, in 2010 and 2016, and then a very talented Lieutenant Governor, African American Mandela Barnes in 2022. Johnson is one of the worst figures in Senate history!

Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio, an obnoxious and unprincipled man who, sadly, is likely to become House Judiciary Committee Chairman in the 118th Congress in 2023!

Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who won his third term as Governor in 2022, despite his horrendous policies and lack of compassion, and is likely to pursue a Presidential candidacy for 2024!

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, who won a vast reelection victory in 2022, and is seen as the front runner for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2024, despite his intolerant and authoritarian bent, and his high level of arrogance and cockiness, on a multitude of issues. These include the COVID 19 Pandemic; Gay and Transgender Rights; Racial and Religious Minorities; interference in the teaching of History and Literature, and Manipulating School Boards and Libraries; and extreme Gerrymandering of Congressional Districts, which took away two African American seats, and gave the Republicans the control of the House of Representatives in the 118th Congress!

Arizona Republican Gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake, who used the same tactic as Donald Trump, promoting the “Big Lie” about her defeat in the recent elections in her state. She has just been repudiated in court in her attempt to reverse a clearcut victory by her opponent, Secretary of State Katie Hobbs. Good riddance to the most obnoxious woman imaginable!

Finally, on this list, former President Donald Trump, the most dangerous and worst US President in American history, twice impeached, and a close ally of totalitarian dictators around the world, willing to overthrow the US Constitution, rule of law, and American democracy. He needs to be prevented from running again for President, and indictment and conviction on the four charges brought against him by the January 6 House Committee is essential, to prevent any future tyrant from taking the kind of actions that this most evil man took! He harmed so many Americans during his term, as well as having the responsibility for the deaths, destruction and violence, in the worst attack on the US Capitol since the War of 1812!

And now an Addendum:

The Supreme Court has become a disgraceful, power hungry, extremist right wing organization!

Chief Justice John Roberts has lost his desired reputation as the leader of his Court, and in particular, Clarence Thomas (appointed by George H. W. Bush) and Samuel Alito (appointed by George W. Bush) have been totally out of control, and both will go down as two of the very worst Supreme Court Justices in American history! The names and reputations of both Bush Presidencies are permanently besmirched as a result!

The Bush Presidencies Will Be Forever Stained By Thomas And Alito Appointments!

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Every President has policies and appointments that historically make him look positive, but they also have policies and appointments that historically make him look negative.

The two Presidents Bush, father and son, will never be forgiven for their horrendous appointments of Clarence Thomas in 1991 by President George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito in 2006 by President George W. Bush!

And the appointment of Alito could have been even worse, as if timing had been different, he would have been Chief Justice instead of John Roberts!

Roberts was scheduled to be an Associate Justice nominee to replace Sandra Day O’Connor, but the day before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearings began, Chief Justice William Rehnquist died, and George W. Bush, overnight, decided Roberts would be his replacement, and later selected Alito to replace Sandra Day O’Connor.

The thought of a Chief Justice Samuel Alito is horrifying, although Alito has done tremendous damage to the institution of the Supreme Court in his 16 years he has served!

As it is, Chief Justice John Roberts, like Alito, picked by a President who lost the popular vote in 2000, has not distinguished himself, has proved to be a weak leader, and will go down as a failure. His reputation historically will suffer in the long term!

The Bush Presidencies Gave Us The Two Worst Supreme Court Justices: Thomas And Alito!

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The legacy of George H. W. Bush, and his son George W. Bush, gave us, as all Presidencies do, positives and negatives in the long run of history.

But it is now clear that each of the Bushes gave the nation the two worse Supreme Court Justices in modern American history, both with an extremely narrowminded and vicious streak!

This is referring to the senior Bush appointment of Clarence Thomas in 1991, and to the junior Bush appointment of Samuel Alito in 2006.

Both Justices are so called “originalists’, who believe the Constitution must be understood in 1787 perspective, and do not accept the idea that 235 years have passed, and the situation of many groups, including the issues of gender, race, and sexuality, along with the concept of privacy, needs to be updated.

So we are on the cusp of a likely Supreme Court decision denying every woman the right to control her own body, whether a pregnancy comes about by rape or incest, as well as the danger to the life of the mother!

It also seems an opening not only to outlaw all abortions, but make it a criminal act of the mother and the doctor and hospital staff, and does not consider the effects on all women, whether pregnant or not.

Only a heartless autocrat with hate and vindictiveness in his or her heart would wish to impose tight government regulation on the private lives of women, or really, even men, who are affected by the imposition of a Judicial dictatorship, taking away a right guaranteed for 50 years, an unheard of reversal!

So the Bushes will go down in history in a very negative fashion for, whether realizing it or not, imposing religious views and personal vendettas of Supreme Court Justices they appointed on more than half of the population!

Supreme Court Nominees Lied, And Susan Collins And Lisa Murkowski Were Tricked!

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Two Women Republican Senators, considered the most “moderate” Republicans in the US Senate, have made it clear that they are supportive of abortion rights–Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Both interviewed Donald Trump’s three Supreme Court nominees–Neil Gorsuch in 2017, Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, and Amy Coney Barrett in 2020–and all three nominees pledged that they would not touch Roe V Wade.

But now, based on the draft of the likely decision of the Supreme Court in late June, all three are supportive of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, to wipe out fifty years of abortion reaffirmation, and take away a basic right already granted, a totally reprehensible action!

So it comes down to this–all three Trump nominees LIED to Collins and Murkowski, and have undermined faith in the veracity and reputation of the Supreme Court!

By all rights, all three should be impeached and removed, but of course, that will not happen, but the image and historic role of the Supreme Court has been sullied for all time!

And Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski SHOULD support a carve out on the filibuster to allow 51 votes, including theirs, to pass legislation to insure the continuation of abortion rights, and therefore, tell the Supreme Court to go to hell, as a disgrace to the law and the Constitution!

Republicans And Conservative Supreme Court Will Suffer By Attack On Abortion Rights!

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The Republican Party and the majority Conservative Supreme Court will suffer massively by their attack on Abortion Rights!

Vast numbers of Americans, and particularly women, will not sit idly by and allow a woman’s right to choose to be taken away without a massive negative reaction at the polls in 2022 and beyond!

It will be like the California Republicans who passed legislation in the form of Proposition 187 in 1994 under Republican Governor Pete Wilson to deny undocumented immigrants any rights to health care and education, with that legislation delayed and then declared unconstitutional, but with the Republican Party having committed suicide in the process.

So the California Republican Party, except for a few Congressional seats and a small number of state legislative seats, have been in the wilderness for the past quarter century, insuring that California is strongly Blue.

The Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts will lose all credibility, and will damage the instition of the judiciary long term.

The Roberts Court will not go down as an outstanding, fair minded Court as with Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969), and respect for the Court will decline rapidly.

If John Roberts has his scruples, he needs to work behind the scenes to convince Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett to reject the extremist view of Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito!

By all rights, both men should recuse themselves from the Roe V Wade challenge, as they should never have been allowed on the Court with their extremist views!

Both Thomas, appoinated by George H. W. Bush, and Samuel Alito, appointed by George W. Bush, were and are outside the mainstream of American constitutional law!

Roe v Wade Under Attack On Supreme Court With Case Heard On Wednesday

Ronald 2 Comments

Nearly half a century has passed since the Supreme Court decision in Roe v Wade on January 22, 1973.

Women have had the right to determine their own future, and yet, now, the majority of the Supreme Court are Republican and conservative appointments, and could end abortion rights completely in at least 12 states.

This would include making women criminals if they had an illegal abortion, or had even a miscarriage, and would not allow even for rape or incest or life of the mother.

The thought that this could happen in the 21st century in a nation supposedly advanced like the United States’ reputation is shocking and rprehensible, and will harm poor and minority women the most, as wealthy white women will always be able to fly out of states that ban abortion and accomplish their goals of ending unwanted pregnancies safely!

The concern over the unborn fetus ends when a child is born, as the same Republican and conservative forces have no concern about the life of poor women and their newborn babies!

There is hope that possibly one or more of the six Republican justices–Chief Justice John Roberts, likely, and Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was backed by Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine for the Court membership, when he said he believed Roe V Wade was settled law–will save basic abortion rights, but the future is uncertain!

Also, Amy Coney Barrett, new to the Court, could surprise, but seen as highly unlikely!

Neil Gorsuch seems unlikely, also, to leave Roe V Wade alone, and as far as Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, both clearly are a “lost cause”, sadly!

Senator Arlen Specter’s Farewell Speech: Condemnation Of Chief Justice John Roberts And Associate Justice Samuel Alito On Judicial Activism, And Of Right Wing Republicans! :(

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Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania is retiring after a distinguished 30 year career, plus having served in local government, and on the staff of the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy almost a half century ago.

Specter, often seen as a difficult man to work with, and possessing a large ego, lost his Senate nomination race to Joe Sestak after switching back to the Democratic Party that he had long ago been a member of, until he converted for a long time to the Republican Party.

Specter was head of the Senate Judiciary Committee during the hearings for the nominations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito, and today he denounced both Justices for violating their testimony during the hearings, which indicated they believed in precedent (stare decisis), but then proceeding to use judicial activism and violating the separation of powers doctrine, particularly in the Citizens United Case in January of this year, allowing unlimited spending by corporations after nearly a century of strict regulation by Congress of such actions.

So Specter joined the criticism of President Obama, enunciated by the President in his State of the Union Address, which annoyed both Roberts and Alito, with Roberts making a clearcut statement of dissent, amid hints that neither Justice might attend future State of the Union Addresses, which if actually done, would be highly inappropriate.

Specter also condemned right wing Republicans such as Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who worked against moderate Republicans in a number of states, causing the loss of seats for the party.

One thing about Specter–he does not worry what others think of him, and his leaving Congress will make it a less interesting and principled place for sure!