Chief Justice Earl Warren

Donald Trump’s Massive Destruction Of LBJ’s “Great Society”!

Ronald 48 Comments

America is witnessing under Donald Trump in his second term Presidency a goal that the extreme right wing MAGA Movement and “Project 2025” has been working toward for decades—the massive destruction of all of the good work of President Lyndon B. Johnson and his “Great Society” in the mid 1960s.

All of the major actions of the Johnson Presidency in domestic affairs, and also of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren, is being reversed in a heartless, callous, cruel manner by both Donald Trump and the extreme right wing majority of the John Roberts Supreme Court.

Among these actions of massive destruction have been the following:

Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Medicare and Medicaid
Federal Aid to Education
Immigration and Nationality Act 1965
Environmental and Consumer Legislation
Housing and Labor Reforms
Eliminating Government Funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and PBS
War On Poverty Programs, including Job Corps, Project Head Start, and Food Stamps (SNAP)
National Endowment For The Arts and National Endowment For The Humanities

Trump has attacked educational programs and cultural institutions, including the Kennedy Center, the National Museum of American History, all other museums connected with the Smithsonian Institution, and News Media.

Trump has also worked to destroy domestic initiatives of presidents after LBJ, including in particular:

Richard Nixon
Jimmy Carter
Bill Clinton
Barack Obama
Joe Biden

Once Donald Trump is out of office, and assuming that Democrats can retake the White House and Capitol Hill, it will take a massive effort to reverse the horrendous damage, and it will be more than a one or two year effort to bring back progress domestically.

The Supreme Court Wiping Out Justice, Equality, Reforms, And Restoring Late 19th Century Post Reconstruction And Gilded Age!

Ronald 34 Comments

Tragically, the Supreme Court majority in recent years has made it clear that their goal is to wipe out racial equality, and the sacrifices of the civil rights movement of the 1960s, and return America to the late 19th century Reconstruction and Gilded Age, a time of horrendous racial segregation and violence!

They have, systemically, worked to eliminate voting rights, as well as affirmative action, undermining the ability of racial minorities to have the same opportunities for the “American Dream” of equality, democracy, and the rule of law that white Americans have.

But also, the Supreme Court has undermined the rights of women (including taking away abortion rights); immigrant rights; labor rights; environmental and consumer rights; and instead, emphasized rights of corporations and promotion of right wing Christian values, reviving the mentality of the late 19th century, before the Progressive Era, the New Deal, and the Great Society!

The Supreme Court has wiped out much of the progress and reforms of the past century and a quarter, bringing back the ugly repression of the last third of the 19th century.

Somehow, the Supreme Court and lower courts must be reformed once Donald Trump has left the scene, in order to restore the great advancements and progress of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Court, and of the great reform Presidents since 1900.

Project 2025: Final Conclusions On Danger Of Extremist Right Wing Agenda!

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This author and blogger has spent a week describing the organization, the Heritage Foundation, and its threatening leader, Kevin Roberts.

There is so much that needs to be written about Project 2025, but I will summarize for now the major ideas and points, with the possibility that in the future weeks and months, the subject of this threat to American democracy, the Constitution, and rule of law will be addressed further.

Project 2025 presents a threat to the nation in so many ways:

The possibility of a dictatorship, with dangerous followers and believers in Donald Trump, imposing their will on the American people, and destroying the nation as we come upon its 250th anniversary in 2026.

The destruction of the federal government and its agencies and departments, ending the civil service bureaucracy created under the Pendleton Act of 1883.

The threat to America’s position in world affairs, with the possibility of the destruction of our foreign alliances, and instead, collaboration with authoritarian dictatorships, based upon the Communist model, despite Trump claiming the Democrats are “Communists, Socialists”!

The destruction of the environment, as climate change and global warming becomes more of a crisis every year, undermining the health and safety of millions of Americans, mostly those who are poor and deprived.

The clear racism and antisemitism and misogyny that Project 2025 promotes, in the name of white Christian nationalism and supremacy, in a nation founded on separation of church and state.

The threat of military and police control, taking away the civil liberties of the Bill of Rights and the Civil Rights Era under Chief Justice Earl Warren and the Supreme Court in the 1950s and 1960s.

The destruction of the American economy, with the continuing dominance of corporations and billionaires, and the subjugation of workers and unions, all in the name of unbridled capitalism, as existed in the Gilded Age of the late 19th century in America.

The undermining of public education, instead promoting propaganda and mistruths about history, science, literature, and other areas of the curriculum, all part of a plan to control the minds of the future generations to accept the goals of those who wish to control them in an authoritarian matter long term!

The arrest, prosecution, and imprisonment of political critics and destruction of a free press, and expanding a judiciary that promotes a right wing agenda long term!

These threats must be met by resolve to prevent this extremism from gaining power, and destroying the American nation!

The Massive Corruption Of Clarence Thomas

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It is shocking how corrupt and greedy Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is, and has been in the past third of a century since his hearings for the Supreme Court in 1991 revealed sexual harassment of Anita Hill.

Selected to replace the only earlier African American Justice, Thurgood Marshall, by President George H. W. Bush, his appointment and career stand out as possibly the biggest blunder made by the 41st President.

Thomas has gained at least $4 million in “benefits” from conservative activists, most notably Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, and has led the attack on the great advancements of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Court (1953-1969).

By all standards of behavior, Thomas should resign from the Court, and should be impeached, but of course, neither will happen, and his horrendous tenure on the Court as it moves far to the Right, undermines all respect for the Court as an institution.

Thomas, sadly, is on the path to the possibility of serving longer on the Court than anyone, if he stays a member for the next three years. If he does, he will surpass the 36 years of Associate Justice William O. Douglas (1939-1975). At this time, already, Thomas is the 10th longest serving member of the Court in its history.

Thomas’s impact on constitutional law is also the fact that many of his law clerks are now federal district court judges, so his right wing views will carry on beyond his own time on the Court.

And sadly, his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, was involved in promotion of the January 6 2021 US Capitol Insurrection, as indicated by research into the behind the scenes events of that tragic day.

70th Anniversary Commemoration Of Brown V Board Of Education!

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The single most significant Supreme Court decision of the 20th century occurred exactly 70 years ago on May 17, 1954, when the Supreme Court, in an unanimous 9-0 decision, declared segregation in public education was unconstitutional, reversing the segregation decision in Plessy V Ferguson of 1896 after 58 years.

The fact that Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953-1969) was able to gain unanimous support on this case, including Southern members of the Court who were comfortable with segregation, is what made Earl Warren the greatest Chief Justice after John Marshall (1801-1835).

It also makes one very downcast and depressed at what has happened at the Supreme Court in recent decades, particularly since Donald Trump made three right wing appointments to be Supreme Court Justices, adding on to the two Presidents Bush who gave the nation the horrendous Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.

Chief Justice John Roberts, also chosen by President George W. Bush, has been a great disappointment, unable to keep the Court balanced, and now containing two Justices totally out of control, arrogant, nasty, abusive, and not concerned about ethics and common decency.

This, along with the attack on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion), and a reversal of Affirmative Action, has been not only promoted by this right wing dominated Supreme Court, but also by actions of Republican Governors Ron DeSantis of Florida, Greg Abbott of Texas, and a whole slew of other Republican governors nationwide.

This includes working to deemphazize African American history in educational curriculums, working to wipe out all of the advancements of the Civil Rights Movement after World War II for the next few decades.

Action must be taken to reverse this bigoted, right wing extremist agenda, and it begins by insuring Joe Biden wins a second term, and that, somehow, Democrats win the House of Representatives, and retain control of the US Senate.

This is a massive challenge that anyone who believes in fairness, and common decency, must engage in for the future of America as a shining beacon of change and tolerance.

Ultimate Issue Of 2024: 21st Century And Preservation Of 20th Century Advancements, Or Return To 19th Century?

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With all of the complex and often confusing issues that have an effect on American politics in the upcoming Presidential and Congressional Elections of 2024, one reality stands out!

Are we to embrace the 21st century and preserve the 20th century advancements of the early 20th century Progressive Era, the New Deal of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Earl Warren Supreme Court decisions, and the Great Society of Lyndon B. Johnson?

Or are we to return to the 19th century post Civil War Gilded Age concept of limited national government, Jim Crow segregation of African Americans, lack of basic human rights for women, and states rights limiting basic freedoms and rights of all but the most powerful corporations and wealthy upper class of Americans?

Supreme Court Justice Quality Way Down From Decades In The Past!

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Republican Party Presidents since 1953 have selected the vast majority of Supreme Court Justices!

Dwight D. Eisenhower 5
Richard Nixon 4
Gerald Ford 1
Ronald Reagan 4
George H. W. Bush 2
George W. Bush 2
Donald Trump 3
Total 21 with William Rehnquist listed twice under Nixon and Reagan

in 40 years of Republican Presidents

Democratic Party Presidents have had far fewer appointments!

John F. Kennedy 2
Lyndon B. Johnson 2
Jimmy Carter 0
Bill Clinton 2
Barack Obama 2
Joe Biden 1
Total 9

in 32 years of Democratic Presidents

So twice as many Repubican appointments as Democrats!

Eisenhower had Chief Justice Earl Warren, Associate Justice Potter Stewart, and Associate Justice William Brennan stand out!

Nixon had Chief Justice Warren Burger and Associate Justice Harry Blackmun stand out!

Ford had Associate Justice John Paul Stevens stand out!

Reagan had Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy stand out!

H W Bush had Associate Justice David Souter stand out!

On the Democratic side:

Kennedy had Associate Justice Byron White stand out!

Johnson had Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall stand out!

Clinton had Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Associate Justice Stephen Breyer stand out!

Obama had Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Associate Justice Elena Kagan stand out!

Biden had Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson stand out!

So 9 Republican appointments and 7 Democratic appointments have stood out!

Now, sadly, we have a group of appointments by Republican Presidents (the two Bushes and Donald Trump) that have been extremist and involved in conflicts of interest, and are not interested in being in the moderate center of constitutional law!

These include Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, and sadly, Chief Justice John Roberts!

Abe Fortas Resigned In 1969 From Supreme Court, And Clarence Thomas Needs To Do Same In 2023!

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In 1969, Associate Justice Abe Fortas, appointed to the Supreme Court in 1965 by his “good friend”, President Lyndon B. Johnson, resigned, due to an ethics scandal, and accusations that he was too partisan and close to his long time friend.

Fortas had been nominated to replace Chief Justice Earl Warren, but members of his own Democratic Party, as well as opposition Republicans, negated that, and under fire, Fortas retired from the Court after less than four years of service.

Now, 54 years later, we have Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, appointed by President George H. W. Bush in 1991 to replace retiring Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall, under fire for much greater ethics violations, with calls for his resignation or impeachment after 32 years on the Supreme Court.

Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, was involved in the promotion of opposition to the counting of the Electoral College votes in the Presidential Election of 2020, and Thomas himself was willing to work to prevent the confirmation of Joe Biden as the winner of the Presidency.

Additionally, Thomas has not reported income and real estate dealings with powerful and wealthy right wing promoters, including Harlan Crow, and clearly, Thomas is the most right wing extremist member of the Court, more so in many respects than former Associate Justice Antonin Scalia.

Thomas has a “chip on his shoulder”, since the investigation of sexual harrassment against Anita Hill complicated his nomination to the Court in 1991, with the vote for his confirmation being the closest in the 20th century by the US Senate.

He made the statement that he would stay on the Court to double his age at the time, 43, to “confound the damn liberals”, so he was already in 1991 ill qualified to sit on the Court with such a biased view of his role!

It is time after nearly 32 years, and 12th longest service on the Court, for Thomas to leave the Court, which he has stained with his corruption from his nomination until today’s controversies!

The Supreme Court Reputation Reaching An All Time Low

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The US Supreme Court is in a crisis, as its reputation in public opinion polls, and among Supreme Court “watchers”, is reaching an all time low, not matched since the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The Court has never been as right wing in substance as it is now, since a century ago, and even going further back to the late 19th century Gilded Age era.

The Supreme Court’s reputation was glowing in the time of the Warren Court (1953-1969) and even moving forward to the Burger Court (1969-1986), and still having an image of balance in the era of the Rehnquist Court (1986-2005).

This was due to the reality that many Republican appointees to the Court, including the following, avoided hardline conservativism:

Eisenhower–Earl Warren, William Brennan
Nixon–Warren Burger, Harry Blackmun
Ford–John Paul Stevens
Reagan–Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy
HW Bush–David Souter

These eight Justices made a massive difference in enunication of Supreme Court opinions.

Sadly, George H W Bush’s appointment of Clarence Thomas, and George W. Bush’s selection of Samuel Alito, veered the Court far to the right, and Donald Trump’s three appointments—Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett—have continued that trend.

The fact that Thomas and Kavanaugh have been connected to accusations of sexual harassment, and that Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett were chosen by Presidents who lost the national popular vote, and that Gorsuch took a seat that was meant for Barack Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland, and that Barrett was confirmed for the Court less than two weeks before the national election—only adds to the fury and disgust felt about the Supreme Court!

This has, reportedly, disturbed Chief Justice John Roberts (2005- ), whose historical reputation is being damaged, as he has moved, personally, from being conservative to attempts to create a moderate balance on the Court. Sadly, it is not working, so there are some rumors that he might retire from the Court after 17 years as its leader, as that is about the norm for most of the 17 Chief Justices in Amerian history, with the exception of John Marshall (1801-1835) and his successor, Roger Taney (1836-1864).

That would be a major step forward, to retire, and allow Joe Biden to pick a Chief Justice, which has not happened for a Democratic President since Harry Truman in 1946!

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!