The effort to overthrow Roe v. Wade has been a campaign so central to U.S. politics around the judicial branch for so long, it is hard to imagine what issue or issues would dominate without it. If the Supreme Court does vote to overturn Roe as a leaked opinion by Justice Alito seems to show they will, the conservative legal movement will have achieved its most high-profile objective. But will it lose its reason to exist?
Apropos of this possible fight, I am reminded of an incident early in the Korean War, when the onslaught of the North Korean army had cornered the US army occupation forces into a small area at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. Reinforcements were coming, the troops were told, just hang on..... An army captain clipped a bayonet to his M1 Garand rifle and stuck it into the bank of the river they were defending. He said, "Easy Company stands or dies on the Naktong River....." We currently are on the Naktong - if we lose the upcoming fights for what we believe in, for the improvement of the human condition, the Republicans will make sure we can never again challenge their minority control of the country.....it really is that simple.
Thanks for this powerful analysis. How strange that a concept as bewildering as nondelegation doctrine could be what brings our country to its collapse.
Excellent explanation of the goals of the Oligarchs. "Government" has been the target of these rich monsters forever. The view that the "enlightened rich" should call the shots has been a consistent theme. I am reading "Titan" by Chernow. A bio of John D. Rockefeller. As with all those "Gilded Age" oligarchs, he felt the governments "job" was to simply stay out of their way.
The strategy of enlisting superstitious semi-educated voters to their side via bible thumping "righteousness" has been brilliantly effective. They have convinced abused workers to oppose unions, vote for candidates that would dismantle the regulations that could save their lives. The whole strategy of presenting the government as some "problem" has been effectively sold to fools who lack critical thinking skills. There is still lead and "forever chemicals" in their water. Could that be part of the plan? (Pardon my paranoia - I just wouldn't put anything past them).
So now that the Oligarchs (via the Federalists) are about to deliver on their "social" promises (trust me, their daughters who party hard will get their safe abortions), the dismantling of our nations essential environmental and social protections is a work in progress.
I fear, this nation will need to suffer greatly before enough of the zombies realize they have been had. If they ever do.
Some among us were alert to this threat, and have seen it looming behind Roe v Wade as that ghostly monster coming to eat us alive. Thank you for your cogent summary. This was, I think, their plan: Distract, then conquer. ❤️🤍💙
THE RIGHT'S NEXT TARGET, provided us with an in depth perspective of the effects of the Fifth Circuit Court's decision in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission and what, if not overturned, it portends. TC, indicated that the latest version of dismantling our New Deal government started with Reagan's administration. Our 'undoing' has been ongoing for more than forty years.
Articles about the Republicans' and their Donor Class' objective to obtain total control of the state rarely detail how the Democratic Party and presidents representing the party have contributed to the defeat of self-government - Democracy. This week I received and newsletter from The American Prospect Magazine, which echo's my point of view better than I can. This article is just a glimpse. There is a lot more out there and to be written about how we have gotten so close to losing it.
'Another Sweeping Far-Right Court Ruling'
'Following the practice of ignoring precedent, an appellate ruling seeks to destroy consumer and investor protection.'
BY ROBERT KUTTNER MAY 20, 2022
'The Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. A recent Fifth Circuit ruling would gut the agency's power to punish financial lawbreakers.'
'On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling that, if upheld by the Supreme Court, could literally shut down the regulatory authority of large parts of the federal government. In Jarkesy v. SEC, the Fifth Circuit overturned a penalty ordered by an SEC administrative law judge on the grounds that the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial. The Court, ignoring decades of Supreme Court precedent, held that Congress's delegation of such authority to the SEC is unconstitutional.'
'Jarkesy operated two hedge funds. After an extensive investigation by the SEC, the administrative law judge found that the hedge funds had misrepresented facts and risks in order to deceive investors, and ordered a fine of $300,000, a disgorgement of $685,000 in ill-gotten gains, and barred Jarkesy from a variety of securities activities. But the court reversed the orders as unconstitutional.'
'The federal government uses administrative law judges in some 30 different agencies. There are about 2,000 such judges, who are civil servants, about twice the number of federal district court judges. They do everything from adjudicating benefits disputes at the Social Security Administration to issuing findings and penalties at other regulatory agencies.'
'If all these questions must go before a jury, much of what the far right disparages as the “administrative state” is out of business. This is of course the Fifth Circuit's broader agenda, and it chimes with anti-regulation views of Chief Justice Roberts. The SEC can appeal to the Supreme Court, but good luck to that.'
'The irony is that regulatory agencies are finally doing their jobs. The Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Jonathan Kanter, recently gave an interview to the Financial Times promising a long overdue crackdown on abuses by private equity. But such efforts are now on a collision course with far right courts that have been half a century in the making. I wish I could report that the architect of the Jarkesy ruling was a Trump appointee. But no, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod was appointed by George W. Bush.'
'Here's the broader point. If the Democratic Party had not gotten into bed with Wall Street under Carter, Clinton and Obama, Democrats might have remained the national majority party—and those far-right judges never would have been appointed. Back when the judiciary was more supportive of regulation, the SEC might have closed down private equity before it even gained a foothold by ruling that you can't take over a company using its own assets as collateral.'
'Now, despite Biden's attempt to revive regulatory agencies with assertive public-minded appointees, good Democratic regulators will be hobbled by the sins of bad Democratic presidents that led to even worse Republican ones, and a legacy of reactionary courts.'
The story of THE RIGHT'S NEXT TARGET will be a major theme of the next couple of years. TC is on the case and so are we.
The question is not if but when SCOTUS will scuttle the SEC, NLRB, EPA, etc. This has been the object all along for which culture war issues, and racist dogwhistles, were advanced to enlist foot soldiers to elect enough right winger Republicans to control the judicial appointments process. It will happen sooner than you think. They have assembled enough votes and the Democratic Party, infected with neoliberalism, has not tried to stop it.
Unless…we scuttle the filibuster and pack the Court, or the Lord God Jehovah smites the Philistines. If He’s listening, please start with Roberts. Having the ability to appoint the Chief could be helpful.
if you're right about this, Tom (and obviously you're dead-on), we're in big trouble. it feels like the so-called "Conservatives" on SCOTUS (and "adjacent" to it) still want to get even for that miserable fuck Bork. this "originalist" argument has always been insane. so insane on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin....and I can--on at least SOME days--believe that those "originalists" themselves know it's bullshit. but this last year or two make them LOOK like the hacks they are, and sometimes what has come to be called "optics" (as if there's something wrong with "appearances") are actually very important.
Grasping at any straws, or even things that look like straws, I am hopeful that the upcoming Jan. 6 select committee hearings, with nightly news updates, MAY persuade moderates and independents that they simply cannot vote for any Republican candidates..... You tell me your dreams and I'll tell you mine.....
Always wondered what in the sam heck politicians would do once anything happened with Roe vs Wade. A litmus test for way too long. Now I do not care to hear what they will do since it has become rather evident. They can go fu*k themselves.
When the theatrical curtain falls heavily upon their puny members (and I mean that literally and figuratively) be ready for the encore of democracy and a phoenix like rise of women leaders.
(By the way, TC. Could not resist mention of your book today on other Substack. Your comment was so widely rec’d today, thought it good to add further authored reference. Salud!)
Apropos of this possible fight, I am reminded of an incident early in the Korean War, when the onslaught of the North Korean army had cornered the US army occupation forces into a small area at the southern tip of the Korean peninsula. Reinforcements were coming, the troops were told, just hang on..... An army captain clipped a bayonet to his M1 Garand rifle and stuck it into the bank of the river they were defending. He said, "Easy Company stands or dies on the Naktong River....." We currently are on the Naktong - if we lose the upcoming fights for what we believe in, for the improvement of the human condition, the Republicans will make sure we can never again challenge their minority control of the country.....it really is that simple.
Thanks for this powerful analysis. How strange that a concept as bewildering as nondelegation doctrine could be what brings our country to its collapse.
Excellent explanation of the goals of the Oligarchs. "Government" has been the target of these rich monsters forever. The view that the "enlightened rich" should call the shots has been a consistent theme. I am reading "Titan" by Chernow. A bio of John D. Rockefeller. As with all those "Gilded Age" oligarchs, he felt the governments "job" was to simply stay out of their way.
The strategy of enlisting superstitious semi-educated voters to their side via bible thumping "righteousness" has been brilliantly effective. They have convinced abused workers to oppose unions, vote for candidates that would dismantle the regulations that could save their lives. The whole strategy of presenting the government as some "problem" has been effectively sold to fools who lack critical thinking skills. There is still lead and "forever chemicals" in their water. Could that be part of the plan? (Pardon my paranoia - I just wouldn't put anything past them).
So now that the Oligarchs (via the Federalists) are about to deliver on their "social" promises (trust me, their daughters who party hard will get their safe abortions), the dismantling of our nations essential environmental and social protections is a work in progress.
I fear, this nation will need to suffer greatly before enough of the zombies realize they have been had. If they ever do.
Some among us were alert to this threat, and have seen it looming behind Roe v Wade as that ghostly monster coming to eat us alive. Thank you for your cogent summary. This was, I think, their plan: Distract, then conquer. ❤️🤍💙
THE RIGHT'S NEXT TARGET, provided us with an in depth perspective of the effects of the Fifth Circuit Court's decision in Jarkesy v. Securities and Exchange Commission and what, if not overturned, it portends. TC, indicated that the latest version of dismantling our New Deal government started with Reagan's administration. Our 'undoing' has been ongoing for more than forty years.
Articles about the Republicans' and their Donor Class' objective to obtain total control of the state rarely detail how the Democratic Party and presidents representing the party have contributed to the defeat of self-government - Democracy. This week I received and newsletter from The American Prospect Magazine, which echo's my point of view better than I can. This article is just a glimpse. There is a lot more out there and to be written about how we have gotten so close to losing it.
'Another Sweeping Far-Right Court Ruling'
'Following the practice of ignoring precedent, an appellate ruling seeks to destroy consumer and investor protection.'
BY ROBERT KUTTNER MAY 20, 2022
'The Securities and Exchange Commission headquarters in Washington, D.C. A recent Fifth Circuit ruling would gut the agency's power to punish financial lawbreakers.'
'On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a ruling that, if upheld by the Supreme Court, could literally shut down the regulatory authority of large parts of the federal government. In Jarkesy v. SEC, the Fifth Circuit overturned a penalty ordered by an SEC administrative law judge on the grounds that the Seventh Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial. The Court, ignoring decades of Supreme Court precedent, held that Congress's delegation of such authority to the SEC is unconstitutional.'
'Jarkesy operated two hedge funds. After an extensive investigation by the SEC, the administrative law judge found that the hedge funds had misrepresented facts and risks in order to deceive investors, and ordered a fine of $300,000, a disgorgement of $685,000 in ill-gotten gains, and barred Jarkesy from a variety of securities activities. But the court reversed the orders as unconstitutional.'
'The federal government uses administrative law judges in some 30 different agencies. There are about 2,000 such judges, who are civil servants, about twice the number of federal district court judges. They do everything from adjudicating benefits disputes at the Social Security Administration to issuing findings and penalties at other regulatory agencies.'
'If all these questions must go before a jury, much of what the far right disparages as the “administrative state” is out of business. This is of course the Fifth Circuit's broader agenda, and it chimes with anti-regulation views of Chief Justice Roberts. The SEC can appeal to the Supreme Court, but good luck to that.'
'The irony is that regulatory agencies are finally doing their jobs. The Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust, Jonathan Kanter, recently gave an interview to the Financial Times promising a long overdue crackdown on abuses by private equity. But such efforts are now on a collision course with far right courts that have been half a century in the making. I wish I could report that the architect of the Jarkesy ruling was a Trump appointee. But no, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod was appointed by George W. Bush.'
'Here's the broader point. If the Democratic Party had not gotten into bed with Wall Street under Carter, Clinton and Obama, Democrats might have remained the national majority party—and those far-right judges never would have been appointed. Back when the judiciary was more supportive of regulation, the SEC might have closed down private equity before it even gained a foothold by ruling that you can't take over a company using its own assets as collateral.'
'Now, despite Biden's attempt to revive regulatory agencies with assertive public-minded appointees, good Democratic regulators will be hobbled by the sins of bad Democratic presidents that led to even worse Republican ones, and a legacy of reactionary courts.'
The story of THE RIGHT'S NEXT TARGET will be a major theme of the next couple of years. TC is on the case and so are we.
The question is not if but when SCOTUS will scuttle the SEC, NLRB, EPA, etc. This has been the object all along for which culture war issues, and racist dogwhistles, were advanced to enlist foot soldiers to elect enough right winger Republicans to control the judicial appointments process. It will happen sooner than you think. They have assembled enough votes and the Democratic Party, infected with neoliberalism, has not tried to stop it.
Unless…we scuttle the filibuster and pack the Court, or the Lord God Jehovah smites the Philistines. If He’s listening, please start with Roberts. Having the ability to appoint the Chief could be helpful.
My question is, who in the Democratic Party leadership is going to be that army captain, that Easy Company commander.....?
Truly all is becoming a big mess for which lamentations will not render us free. Wish I hadn't seen this coming.
if you're right about this, Tom (and obviously you're dead-on), we're in big trouble. it feels like the so-called "Conservatives" on SCOTUS (and "adjacent" to it) still want to get even for that miserable fuck Bork. this "originalist" argument has always been insane. so insane on so many levels, it's hard to know where to begin....and I can--on at least SOME days--believe that those "originalists" themselves know it's bullshit. but this last year or two make them LOOK like the hacks they are, and sometimes what has come to be called "optics" (as if there's something wrong with "appearances") are actually very important.
Grasping at any straws, or even things that look like straws, I am hopeful that the upcoming Jan. 6 select committee hearings, with nightly news updates, MAY persuade moderates and independents that they simply cannot vote for any Republican candidates..... You tell me your dreams and I'll tell you mine.....
Always wondered what in the sam heck politicians would do once anything happened with Roe vs Wade. A litmus test for way too long. Now I do not care to hear what they will do since it has become rather evident. They can go fu*k themselves.
When the theatrical curtain falls heavily upon their puny members (and I mean that literally and figuratively) be ready for the encore of democracy and a phoenix like rise of women leaders.
(By the way, TC. Could not resist mention of your book today on other Substack. Your comment was so widely rec’d today, thought it good to add further authored reference. Salud!)