The Supreme Court of the United States continues to Dismantle American Law

The justices agreed with lawyers for West Virginia, saying Congress did not give environmental regulators broad authority to reshape the system for producing electric power by switching from coal to natural gas, wind turbines and solar energy.

“Today, the court strips the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time,” Kagan wrote.

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court took away the president’s administration authority to implement regulations under the Clean Air Act to reduce carbon emissions at power plants. The majority opinion was delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts.

“Today, the court strips the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the power Congress gave it to respond to the most pressing environmental challenge of our time,” Kagan wrote. “The Court appoints itself—instead of Congress or the expert agency—the decisionmaker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening. Respectfully, I dissent,” Kagan concluded.

I am no environmentalist but if agencies created by congress are not allowed to do the job assigned to then our administrative system becomes dysfunctional. What is next on their agenda? Could it be the Voting Rights Act or same sex marriage? Since Black Clarence Thomas is married to a White woman. Loving v. Virginia, 388 U.S. 1 (1967) is not likely to be overturned.

Divided America

Based on news reports thousands and maybe millions of Americans believe the 2020 election was fraudulent.

The disparate responses from the governors of the two most populous states in the nation highlighted the stark political divide in America, deepened by radically different approaches to healthcare, gun control, the COVID-19 pandemic, LGBTQ rights, immigration and now, once again, reproductive rights.

California Governor Gavin Newsom, Governor Kate Brown of Oregon, and Governor Jay Inslee of Washington joined together in announcing a multistate commitment to defend access to reproductive health services and contraceptives.

Bill Maher’s monologue on Friday’s episode of “Real Time.” joked that “It’s gonna be a fun America that we’re going to live in, isn’t it?” and eventually lamented that “we are going to be living in two very different Americas.”

On Saturday June 18 thousands of Texas Republicans approved a new platform at the 2022 party convention in Houston calling on the state legislature to authorize a referendum on secession from the United States. There are 275 planks in the platform and among the planks it defines homosexuality as “an abnormal lifestyle,” marriage as only between “one biological man and one biological woman,” and supports eliminating sex education from schools altogether. On the political side, it calls for abolishing the direct election of U.S. Senators, nullifying Supreme Court decisions, ending birthright citizenship, repealing the Voting Rights Act, and holding an Article V convention to rewrite the U.S. Constitution. I am not making this up. The convention decisions were reported in The Week magazine.

Perhaps it is time for the United States to split apart. The Calexit plan started in 2015 calls for succession of California. The South, those that tried to succeed in 1861, calling themselves the Confederate States of America never really surrendered. The Confederate flag is still in prominent use.

Abraham Lincoln speech June 16, 1858: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” He was correct but his solution has not brought peace to the people of those southern states.

I believe is it is time we all went our separate ways.

It was Beat Up the SCOTUS Nominee Day

After Monday’s warm-up session of opening statements, this morning, Judge KETANJI BROWN JACKSON entered what Senate Judiciary Chair DICK DURBIN described as a “trial by ordeal,” with questioning from all 22 members of the panel. The seven morning inquisitors seven had their chance to beat up Mrs. Jackson

Here are some highlights from this morning’s questioning:

— On Roe v. Wade: “‘Roe’ and ‘[Planned Parenthood v.] Casey’ are the settled law of the Supreme Court concerning the right to terminate a woman’s pregnancy,” Jackson said. “They have established a framework that the court has reaffirmed.”

— On court-packing, Jackson repeatedly declined to wade into the issue: “My North Star is the consideration of the proper role of a judge in our Constitutional scheme. In my view, judges should not be speaking to political issues, and certainly not a nominee for a position on the Supreme Court.”

— On marriage rights for same-sex couples: Sen. JOHN CORNYN (R-Texas) asked if Jackson agreed with him that the Court’s ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges (which found that “same-sex couples may exercise the fundamental right to marry”) creates “a conflict between what people may believe as a matter of their religious faith, and what the federal government says is the law of the land.” “That is the nature of a right,” Jackson replied. “When there is a right, it means that there are limitations on regulation, even if people are regulating pursuant to their sincerely held religious beliefs.”

— On claims that she has been lenient with sentencing in child sex abuse cases: “As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth,” Jackson said. “I impose a strict sentence and all of the additional restraints that are available in the law. These people [convicted in these cases] cannot use computers in a normal way for decades. I am imposing all of those constraints because I understand how significant, how damaging, how horrible this crime is.”

— On whether she thinks Supreme Court hearings should be televised: “I would want to discuss with the other justices their views and understand all of the various potential issues related to cameras in the courtroom before I took a position on it.”

The most explosive moments from this morning came from LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.), who used a substantial portion of his time to lament the treatment of Justice AMY CONEY BARRETT during her confirmation process.

GRAHAM: “What faith are you, by the way?” JACKSON: “Senator, I am Protestant. Non-denominational.” GRAHAM: “How important is your faith to you?” JACKSON: “Senator, personally my faith is very important. … It’s very important to set aside one’s personal views about things in the role of a judge.”

Then Graham turned it up: “On a scale of 1-10, how faithful would you say you are in terms of religion?” Jackson responded: “Senator, I am reluctant to talk about my faith in this way just because I want to be mindful of the need for the public to have confidence in my ability to separate out my personal views.”

Graham continued: “Well how would you feel if a senator up here said, ‘your faith, a dogma lives loudly within you, and that’s of concern.’ … Would you find that offensive? I would if I were you. I found it offensive when they said it about Judge Barrett. … You’re reluctant to talk about it because it’s uncomfortable. Just imagine what would happen if people on late-night television called you an ‘effing nut speaking in tongues’ because you’ve practiced the Catholic faith in a way they couldn’t relate to or found uncomfortable. So, judge, you should be proud of your faith. I am convinced that whatever faith you have and how often you go to church, it will not affect your ability to be fair. … Judge Barrett, I thought, was treated very, very poorly, so I just wanted to get that out.”

Graham’s questioning later turned to her work representing Guantánamo Bay detainees, and an amicus brief she filed during her time at a law firm that challenged Bush-era detention policies. The topic produced a tense back-and-forth between Graham and Jackson in which the senator attempted to get an explanation of whether she agreed with the challenge. The context, via NYT’s Charlie Savage

It’s safe to say Graham left unsatisfied. Here’s what he told CNN’s Manu Raju after exiting the room for a break: “Graham emerged from hearing and said it’s ‘fair to say’ he sees red flags with [the] Jackson nomination. He criticized her explanation of defending Guantanamo detainees as an attorney. ‘It just doesn’t make sense to me,’ he told me.”

Graham also lamented that J. MICHELLE CHILDS, a judge from his home state, had not been selected as the nominee, claiming that progressives torpedoed her chances in favor of boosting Jackson.

— Worth noting: Graham was one of three Republican senators who voted to confirm Jackson to her post on the D.C. Circuit.

The End of Democracy in America

I know it seems like a ridiculous idea. The world’s greatest democracy founded on July 4, 1776 coming to an end. Every nation in the world striving to have a democracy tries to emulate the United States of America. It is happening before our eyes. Millions of our own citizens no longer believe fair and honest elections are possible.

To ensure that there are unfair elections the GOP, the Republican Party, are passing laws to deny citizens the right to vote. But of course many Republicans believe they are doing the right thing to protect the democracy.

States with Republican legislatures have passed waves of new laws making it harder for constituents to vote in response to the 2020 election, experts say.

Republican lawmakers in state legislatures across the country are capitalizing on Trump’s repeated claims of voter fraud to pass these measures. Nineteen states have passed 33 news laws this year that make it harder to vote, according to an updated analysis released Monday by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice.

The report, which covers legislative activity through September 27, finds that:

Four states bundled together an array of new voting restrictions into single omnibus bills: Texas, Florida, Georgia and Iowa.
Four states — Arkansas, Montana, Texas and Arizona — passed multiple laws to restrict voting.
Many state laws hit on common themes. Seven, for instance, imposed tougher identification requirements to cast ballots. Seven states also shortened the window to apply for a mail-in ballots.

Some states are discouraging voter participation by imposing arbitrary requirements and harsh penalties on voters and poll workers who violate these rules. In Georgia, lawmakers have made it a crime to provide food and water to voters standing in line at the polls — lines that are notoriously long in Georgia, especially for communities of color. In Texas, people have been arrested and given outrageous sentences for what amount at most to innocent mistakes made during the voting process.

Large majorities of Republicans continue to believe the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, and elected Republicans around the country are acting on this conspiracy theory — attempting to lock Democrats out of power by seizing partisan control of America’s electoral systems. Democrats observe all this and gird for battle, with many wondering if the 2024 elections will be held on the level.

I can see only two possibilities. 1) A military civil war that will result in the loss of lives. Those with the guns winning and resulting into a police state. 2) The splitting of the nation into multiple countries. The liberal west coast as one nation. The Midwest and the South another country and the Northeast a third country.

Historians will note that no government lasts forever.

What the average citizen can do about the demise of US democracy

This is a compilation of words written in The Atlantic by George Packer and Zachary B. Wolf on CNN.

Most Republican voters believe that the last election was stolen and that the next one likely will be too. Some have come to embrace the insurrection as a sacred cause.

There is no easy way to stop a major party that’s intent on destroying democracy. The demonic energy with which Trump repeats his lies, and Steve Bannon harangues his audience, and Republican politicians around the country try to seize every lever of election machinery—this relentless drive for power by American authoritarians is the major threat that America confronts. The Constitution doesn’t have an answer. No help will come from Republican leaders; if Mitt Romney and Susan Collins are all that stand between the republic and its foes, we’re doomed.

Barbara Walter is a professor at the University of California San Diego and has a new book out, “How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them.”

She’s among those who have warned the country’s democracy is in a dangerous place.

When asked what everyday Americans could do to protect democracy, she replied with a thoughtful and lengthy email, which boils down to a few key points.

Vote. Even in presidential elections, there are millions of Americans not taking part in the democratic process. The share of nonvoters is even larger in midterm elections, and larger still at the local level.

“If they voted it would perhaps change the makeup of Congress and break the minority’s hold on power in many places,” Walter said.

Protest. Walter pointed to research from Harvard University and argued that nonviolent protest is an effective tool for change.

“It would be very, very hard for politicians to refuse to reform our democracy if even 3 percent of Americans continued to protest in the street until changes were made,” Walter said. “Americans did that during the civil rights era, when citizens demanded equal rights and freedoms for African Americans, and the government responded, satisfying a desire for equity and justice.”

Connect. It’s this last thought that caught my attention. Walter shared an excerpt from her book in which she argues Americans need to reclaim and mediate public discourse so we can “get off the path of self-segregating, predatory factionalism and restore hope in the long-term health of our country.” She offered examples of local groups across the country trying to get people talking to each other.

“Americans have begun to realize how fragile our democracy is and take action to preserve it,” Walter said. “It is at the local level—in churches, voluntary associations, and grassroots groups—that we can once again come together and relearn the power of citizenship and community.”

Get engaged

There are plenty of activist groups looking to bring more Americans into the political process. RepresentUs is a group that vows to fight corruption at the federal level and enact laws at the local level.

It is pushing for the national voting standard that Democrats are trying to figure out how to pass through the Senate.

“Keep informed with multiple credible news sources, and participate in the conversations happening in your community,” RepresentUS CEO Joshua Graham Lynn told me in an email.

There are plenty of reports on the kinds of civil servants, poll workers and volunteers who make democracy run being targeted and quitting.

“If you see your local election officials, school boards, poll workers and other guardians of democracy under attack, show up to support them. That can be anything from sending a quick email of support to going to community meetings,” Lynn said.

I’ll add here that you can call your local election office and see if there are positions that need filling. We know from Steve Bannon that Trump supporters are looking to get into as many election-related positions as possible.

“In this period of heightened anxiety, it can be tempting to tune out the world. But we truly need all hands on deck to make sure our democracy doesn’t crumble,” said Lynn.

Don’t generalize. Accept facts.

Being respectful and honest is not, and should not be, partisan.

One of the more interesting developments this week was former Vice President Dick Cheney — once vilified by Democrats as Darth Vader — appearing on Capitol Hill to show support for the January 6 investigation, which his daughter Rep. Liz Cheney is helping to conduct.

In the Wall Street Journal, the Republican spinmeister Karl Rove wrote that Democrats and Republicans have responsibilities to truth and civility.

Stop generalizing about Republicans. Democrats, he said, need to resist the “petty habit of aggravating partisan fault lines by indiscriminately condemning all who came to Washington that day.”

Accept facts. Proving the point that Democrats need to separate Republicans of goodwill from those who stormed the Capitol, he admitted his own party has more work to do.

I was shocked to see these words come from Rove:

“I’ve been a Republican my entire life, and believe in what the Republican Party, at its best, has represented for decades. There can be no soft-pedaling what happened and no absolution for those who planned, encouraged and aided the attempt to overthrow our democracy. Love of country demands nothing less. That’s true patriotism.”

The alternatives are a civil war or dissolution of the republic. Those are not choices no American of conscience wants.