There is a good chance, if the Six Injustices of the Supreme Court do in their next term what they have demonstrated themselves entirely capable of doing this paSt term - taking a sledgehammer to 240 years of constitutional precedent in the name of recreating the United States as the Republic of Gilead - that Trump and the MAGA movement won’t need a mob to put them in power to accomplish the goal of creating a christo-fascist theocratic dictatorship in 2024. They’re going to get a Mulligan on what they tried in 2020, with the court handing them the key to victory.
TC, Bravo! Your breakdown and analysis of Moore v. Harper, a challenge to North Carolina’s new congressional map to be taken up by the Court, was as clear as the sound of breaking glass.
'How dangerous is this? A Republican victory at the Supreme Court would, according to election law expert Rick Hasen, “radically alter the power of state courts to rein in state legislatures that violate voting rights in federal elections. It could essentially neuter the ability of state courts to protect voters under provisions of state constitutions against infringement of their rights.”
Have I ever been 'thrilled' by TC's use of language, to quote -- 'Six Injustices of the Supreme Court recreating the United States as the Republic of Gilead - that Trump and the MAGA movement won’t need a mob to put them in power to accomplish the goal of creating a christo-fascist theocratic dictatorship in 2024. -- Yes, I have been thrilled. I was so giddy with delight after reading
THEY WON'T NEED A MOB IN 2024, I have rushed to sing TC's praises.
Thank you for the history of the country's various methods of choosing electors. It is history as thick with politics as choosing electors is today. A thick, juicy political steak and reason to reread this TC masterpiece.
The 'Era of Good Feelings' is not to be missed. It took place when ‘…congressional lawmakers in both House and Senate attempted to amend the Constitution to end legislative selection of electors and mandate district-based elections for the Electoral College.' This highlight is the pièce de résistance of TC's work, and I will not give it away.
Have the American people leaned democratic all along? TC has an answer for that.
" a christo-fascist theocratic dictatorship"; thank you TC for summing it up as clear as it is, when careful study of history and law is making it ever more difficult to grasp. USA on the level of Russia. The world will be difficult to recognize!
thanks, Tom. this is the sort of thing you do better than just about anyone: summarize some truly complicated, dicey history/political science very clearly, but with plenty of context. very difficult to do this when you're also shouting at the same time that the theater's on fire, but you more than manage, every time. and yeah, this shit's very scary.
Excellent history. And with this Court’s self appointed role as history professor it should put them to shame.
But it won’t.
The Moore case also has more legal holes than Swiss cheese, not the least of which is the idea a state’s legislature exists separate and apart from the state itself. Or that the part of the Constitution on which they rely only references elections for the House and Senate, not the President. If they try to stretch it to Electors it should put them to shame.
But it won’t.
And there’s the rub. You know at least five Injustices (this is going to catch on, TC), intend to use Moore to allow the GQP legislatures of 30 gerrymandered states to elect the next President and lock out the Democratic Party for a generation or two,… or forever.
We can’t use shame, or history, or legal reasoning to defeat them. We need another way.
“Americans have known since 1796 that the Constitution is not a charter for states or state legislatures. It is a charter for people, for our rights and for our right to self government.” Some of your best words, TC. I’m going to stitch them on a pillow, a very big one.
TAFMers, I have one for you and he’s called Clarence Thomas. Clarence is one of the Injustices TC refers to, but he is not one of them, Clarence is The One. ‘He is most powerful Black man in America, Thomas is also our most symptomatic public intellectual, setting out a terrifying vision of race, rights, and violence that’s fast becoming a description of everyday life. It’s no longer a matter of Clarence Thomas’s Court. Increasingly, it’s Clarence Thomas’s America.’
How do you like that? Those are the words of Robin Corey in his New Yorker article ‘The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Clarence Thomas’. This political theorist, professor and author, knows his subject having written a book about him two years ago called The Enigma of Clarence Thomas.
We say scary a lot because this is a scary time. If you are up to entering the hall of horrors within Thomas’ chambers, I suggest that you read Corey’s article linked below. Risk the opportunity to learn ‘substantive due process’ and the 2nd Amendment in Clarence’s head.
TC, Bravo! Your breakdown and analysis of Moore v. Harper, a challenge to North Carolina’s new congressional map to be taken up by the Court, was as clear as the sound of breaking glass.
'How dangerous is this? A Republican victory at the Supreme Court would, according to election law expert Rick Hasen, “radically alter the power of state courts to rein in state legislatures that violate voting rights in federal elections. It could essentially neuter the ability of state courts to protect voters under provisions of state constitutions against infringement of their rights.”
Have I ever been 'thrilled' by TC's use of language, to quote -- 'Six Injustices of the Supreme Court recreating the United States as the Republic of Gilead - that Trump and the MAGA movement won’t need a mob to put them in power to accomplish the goal of creating a christo-fascist theocratic dictatorship in 2024. -- Yes, I have been thrilled. I was so giddy with delight after reading
THEY WON'T NEED A MOB IN 2024, I have rushed to sing TC's praises.
Thank you for the history of the country's various methods of choosing electors. It is history as thick with politics as choosing electors is today. A thick, juicy political steak and reason to reread this TC masterpiece.
The 'Era of Good Feelings' is not to be missed. It took place when ‘…congressional lawmakers in both House and Senate attempted to amend the Constitution to end legislative selection of electors and mandate district-based elections for the Electoral College.' This highlight is the pièce de résistance of TC's work, and I will not give it away.
Have the American people leaned democratic all along? TC has an answer for that.
" a christo-fascist theocratic dictatorship"; thank you TC for summing it up as clear as it is, when careful study of history and law is making it ever more difficult to grasp. USA on the level of Russia. The world will be difficult to recognize!
thanks, Tom. this is the sort of thing you do better than just about anyone: summarize some truly complicated, dicey history/political science very clearly, but with plenty of context. very difficult to do this when you're also shouting at the same time that the theater's on fire, but you more than manage, every time. and yeah, this shit's very scary.
But, TC, there must be “a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.”
Excellent history. And with this Court’s self appointed role as history professor it should put them to shame.
But it won’t.
The Moore case also has more legal holes than Swiss cheese, not the least of which is the idea a state’s legislature exists separate and apart from the state itself. Or that the part of the Constitution on which they rely only references elections for the House and Senate, not the President. If they try to stretch it to Electors it should put them to shame.
But it won’t.
And there’s the rub. You know at least five Injustices (this is going to catch on, TC), intend to use Moore to allow the GQP legislatures of 30 gerrymandered states to elect the next President and lock out the Democratic Party for a generation or two,… or forever.
We can’t use shame, or history, or legal reasoning to defeat them. We need another way.
This…does….not….look…..good…..
Let’s remind right wing America that if they allow this to happen, Democratic legislators can throw out Republican votes too.
“Americans have known since 1796 that the Constitution is not a charter for states or state legislatures. It is a charter for people, for our rights and for our right to self government.” Some of your best words, TC. I’m going to stitch them on a pillow, a very big one.
TAFMers, I have one for you and he’s called Clarence Thomas. Clarence is one of the Injustices TC refers to, but he is not one of them, Clarence is The One. ‘He is most powerful Black man in America, Thomas is also our most symptomatic public intellectual, setting out a terrifying vision of race, rights, and violence that’s fast becoming a description of everyday life. It’s no longer a matter of Clarence Thomas’s Court. Increasingly, it’s Clarence Thomas’s America.’
How do you like that? Those are the words of Robin Corey in his New Yorker article ‘The Self-Fulfilling Prophecies of Clarence Thomas’. This political theorist, professor and author, knows his subject having written a book about him two years ago called The Enigma of Clarence Thomas.
We say scary a lot because this is a scary time. If you are up to entering the hall of horrors within Thomas’ chambers, I suggest that you read Corey’s article linked below. Risk the opportunity to learn ‘substantive due process’ and the 2nd Amendment in Clarence’s head.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-self-fulfilling-prophecies-of-clarence-thomas
Thank you for this beautifully written scholarship, TC.