Following on my notes from the 2054 Inspection of Trumpistan

l]. Our alliance with the Mexican drug lords has worked well. As far as I can tell, they have faithfully honored terms of our treaty. The decision to sell them back all of the land Mexico lost to the old “United States” cheaply has made them very grateful.
The loss of all that territory negatively impacted Trumpistan – especially California and Texas. It is highly unlikely this reduced country will ever be a threat to China.
Patrolling the border is being split between our troops, the drug lords, and the Mexican government.
Our decision to be ruthless has paid big dividends. People know if they attempt to enter Mexico’s new territory, they’ll not be successful.
The drought from climate change has also had a devastating impact on the old American Southwest, making it less attractive to people thinking of sneaking in.

2]. Our partnership with the Mexican drug lords has been extremely successful. Sales of fentanyl in Trumpistan have continued to increase. It looks the market share we acquired in the 2020 era has only increased.
The sale of fentanyl into this territory has had a devastating impact on their general public health – which continues to benefit China in many ways>

3]. Our strategy to let the old United States destroy itself has obviously worked. The Party was right! It used to amaze me, which I didn’t believe at first, but being here, seeing it – we won by just letting them kill themselves.
There were a number of factors in the decline and destruction of the old United States. Our trade advantage, beginning in 2000, weakened them and strengthened us.
***BUT, THE major, and deciding factor, was that internal division. From their own history sources, they talked about how divided they were by “social issues.” These non-military issues proved fatal.
The economic inequality that sabotaged their concepts of fairness kept getting worse, and more obvious. [*** note: we need to learn from this***]. Increasing numbers of people were struggling to pay their bills – which was made worse by all the manufacturing jobs they lost to China. The Party was right again!

4]. The Second American Civil War proved decisive. Hard for us Chinese to understand – but – a powerful nation dissolved itself because of a RELIGION-inspired civil war.
It began with the emotional issue of abortion – whether individuals would have control over their child creating procedures. Fo 50 years, they had allowed abortions in many ways. But a determined RELIGIOUS group slowly sabotaged it. The decisive point came in Summer, 2022, with a High Court ruling against liberalized abortion.
Protest built slowly, but after police repression in several Republican-controlled southern states, violence began to happen. It never really stopped. Apparently, from their records, about a 2-1 majority didn’t want the High court to change the abortion rules. But, they did it any way. People were enraged by that, which never ended.
From the 2024 election forward, the minority repressive side held power. Kangaroo courts put protestors away, executed some. The “conservative’ gov’t responded with more repression – which enraged the majority even more. The opposition party [Democrats] was outlawed, some of their leaders jailed or executed.

5] General physical destruction of the Civil War not only destroyed people’s homes but also their jobs. The economy really has “gone into the tank’ here. I can’t see how this nation will ever be strong again, certainly HIGHLY UNLIKELY t be a threat to China.
Other nations have been able to rebuild and become strong again after a civil war – but here that looks HIGHLY UNLIKELY. The anger and resentment of the vast majority, because of the RELIGIOUS cause – makes one think of the Middle East and India-Pakistan. Time may tell differently, but at this point there is too much distrust and anger.
And, of course, all the “re-education” and prison camps will not be forgotten or forgiven. I saw the same things in my tours of the Middle East and in the India-Pakistan region.

6] The old Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelensky, died here in prison. I didn’t know it, but after the Western opposition to the Russian Federation crumbled after the old U.S.A. internal problems disaster. Zelensky was secretly sent here to die in prison.
A more authoritarian Trumpistan gov’t began to work more closely with the Russian Federation. That also benefitted China.

7] The Trumpistan economy is to a very large extent controlled by Walmart and Amazon. Walmart told me they intend to keep importing Chinese products, even lesser quality than Chinese people will accept. The economic insecurity of the majority here is so severe it means they’ll only look for the cheapest products.

8]. The richest people here are more than willing to work with us – as long as their wealth is protected. I see no need to challenge that – let sleeping dogs lie! it won’t hurt us, and the obvious example of some living like royalty when the vast majority are struggling only helps keep this country divided.
Much irony – and humor from our standpoint – a major focus of the opposition to the Russian Federation war against Ukraine was to punish the Russian “oligarchs.” Here – after the old U.S.A. dissolved itself – the Trumpistanian oligarchs have maintained their privileged status!

9] Canada has maintained its neutrality on this issue. I don’t see them changing that. The dissolution of the old U.S.A. was a MAJOR eye-opener for Canada, which is a moderate country, but was/is, in some ways, more “liberal” than the old U.S.A..
The abrupt, and drastic, political shift to Trumpistan was, in some ways, traumatic for Canada. Their border with the old U.S.A. was largely on a very friendly basis, because, in many ways, Canada and the old U.S.A. were similar.
Everything changed for Canada with regard to the old U.S.A. after the 2024 election. They were, still are, shocked by what happened here – the concentration camps, the bogus trials, executions, repressive laws, etc.
Canadians had a difficult time understanding the basis for all this: RELIGION; and how much a radical interpretation of religion, which had been much like many of their own religions.
Remember; Canada liberalized its own abortion laws in 1988, so it was a major shock when the old U.S.A. went the other way. They get constant reminders because tens of thousands of women are attempting to get abortions there.

Perhaps more later. this is what i have observed here in these last few months of 2054.
Signed: General M. Wang




Perspective i: “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must
spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves
be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by
suicide.” Abraham Lincoln

Perspective II: Congress should not establish a religion, and enforce the legal observation of it by law, nor compel
men to worship God in any manner contrary to their consciences.” James Madison

Perspective III: “Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perspective IV: “The liberty enjoyed by the people of these states of worshipping Almighty God, agreeable to their
consciences, is not only among the choicest of their blessings, but also of their rights.”
George Washington

Perspective V: “”Law cannot stand aside from the social changes around it.” Justice William Brennan

Perspective VI: “I am for freedom of religion, and against all maneuvers to bring about a legal ascendency of one
sect over another.” Thomas Jefferson

Perspective VII “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.”
Justice Louis Brandeis

Perspective VIII: “WE hold it for a fundamental and inalienable truth that religion and the manner of discharging
it can be directed only by reason and conviction not by force and violence.” James Monroe

Perspective IX: “WE, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and
shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail
in the dust the golden hopes of men.” Theodore Roosevelt. o

Would you buy a used car from Samuel Alito?

Some of the outrage over Alito’s “draft” anti-democratic anti-abortion screed has become LAUGHTER, derision, and embarrassment.
When legitimate, mainstream, fact-based historians, legal, constitutional experts [people existing in the non-R-W alternative universe] began taking Alito’s “scholarship” apart – they found numerous distortions, lies, omissions.
Had this been a “senior paper,” a Master’s thesis, a Ph D dissertation – it would have been covered with red marks, and a “do this over” command.
It is embarrassing for American law to have such a shabby product put forward as the basis for a major “supreme court” decision. The LAUGHTER and derision come from disbelief that anyone would take such “reasoning” seriously.
One law professor said Alito’s paper looked like “a cut and paste job.”

I. NEVER FORGET – this is ALL about imposing some people’s religious belief. This is about “When Religion Becomes Evil ” [Charles Kimball] Among “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion” are absolute truth claims; the end justifies any means [murdering doctors, blowing up health facilities, terrorizing people, harassing women, electing un-Constitutional judges].
Without fundamentalist religions pushing anti-abortion law, NONE of what has happened since 1973 would have occurred. This has been a RELIGIOUS WAR AGAINST THE AMERICAN PUBLIC.

II. Alito states: “..a right to abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.” FALSE!!!!! Abortion has existed “for thousands of years” around the world, and so have contraceptives. The first American anti-abortion law was Illinois’ 1827 law – 50 years AFTER “The United States of America” began. Midwives were practicing both.
Historian Leslie Reagan: in 1857 the newly formed America Medical Association [men] “initiated a crusade to make abortion at every stage of pregnancy illegal.” They wanted to take control of childbirth away from female midwives. Some members felt middle class “Anglo-Saxon” women were not having as many kids as Catholic immigrants and people of color [shades of Nazi Germany].

Would you buy a used car from Samuel Alito?

III. In September, 2021, “justice” Barrett said: “This court is not comprised of a bunch of partisan hacks.” “justice’ Alito complained in October, 2021, that critics were accusing the Republican appointee majority of being “a dangerous cabal that resorts to sneaky and improper methods to get its way.”
After that, people quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson: “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.”Others quoted Shakespeare’s Queen Gertrude: “The lady doth protest too much, me thinks.”

Some remembered Justice Louis Brandeis: “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.”

In an earlier confirmation hearing, a Democratic Senator was ripped by Repubs for raising questions about Barrett’s religion possibly influencing her decisions. Repubs: prejudice!, unfair!
For perspective, read Linda Greenhouse’s “Justice on the Brink.” The prologue: “The Chosen One” describes this, and an op-ed by a “prominent Catholic law professor: “No, Diane Feinstein is NOT an anti-Catholic Bigot.”

At her confirmation hearing, Barrett: “..I’m standing before the committee today saying that I have the integrity to act consistently with my oath..”
In 2013, she signed a “pro-life” statement in the Notre Dame student newspaper. In 2012, she signed a statement critical of the Obama ACA contraceptive coverage. In 2015, she signed a “letter”pledging “fidelity to..doctrines of the Catholic church.” In 2016, she supported a unanimous “University Faculty for Life” resolution condemning Notre Dame’s decision to give Vice President Joe Biden the “Laetare Medal”, awarded to an American Catholic for “outstanding service to Church and society.” In 2006, she signed an anti-abortion newspaper ad calling for “an end to the barbaric legacy of Roe v. Wade.” Would a “reasonable” person ask if her faith might influence her judicial votes?

Would YOU buy a used car from Amy Coney Barrett?

IV. Since 1789, 16 people raised Catholic have been Supreme Court justices. Since 1982 – 8 of those have been nominated by Republican presidents. Would a “reasonable” person be OK asking if this is “Just a coincidence?”
Recent 2022 polling shows only on American religious group – 69% – saying abortion should be outlawed in most cases” white evangelical Protestants [THE major Republican voting base]
A May 9, 2022, Associated story quoted leaders of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism saying their faith allowed them to support a woman’s choice. One said: “One particular political agenda is infringing on my religious and personal freedom [lst Amendment]. Another: “The..community is very clear that no religious or political authority should be deciding this issue [what 1776-1800 state constitutions said].”
Major right-wing Protestant figures said in the 1970s that they were supporting the ‘pro-life” position to attract Catholic voters.
The Founding Fathers, repeatedly, in many ways, said they were against politicalization of religion. Religious corruption/division of America was one of their four main fears.

Would YOU buy a used car from ANY of the McConnell/Roberts salespeople?

V. What’s next??? The McConnell/Roberts “court” has ALREADY twisted the 2nd Amendment – altering 216 years of Court rulings and Founding documents [see 1792 Militia Acts]. They have ALREADY twisted the lst Amendment – calling virtually ALL human activities “speech” – including money laundering; they have used the “free exercise” clause to attack the “establishment” clause – against the oft announced Founders’ intent of “separation of church & state.”
The McConnell/Roberts “court” is rated THE most “business-friendly” since 1945 – giving corporations whatever they want 70% of the decisions.
“justice” Alito claims “..no such right [abortion] is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.” Definitions of “implicit”: l. implied, rather than expressly stated; 2. potentially contained.
If we take Alito at his word [by definition] – “implied” – that means the Constitution itself would support what Alito says it doesn’t. Also – Amendment IX: “The enumeration of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” Again – “abortion doesn’t have to be specifically listed – as Alito says it does!
“Corporation,” “Woman,” “sex” are NOT in the Constitution. Does this mean by Alito’s logic – none of these are guaranteed? Nor is “privacy” there. – BUT a entire list of Supreme Court rulings say it IS in there.
The Supreme Court has GIVEN corporations numerous “rights.” Logic would say others [Amendment IX] also deserve the same consideration. Unless, of course, the Founders didn’t think sex was important.
Amendments I, III, IV, IX all contain elements of that “most valued of all rights” – “the right to be let alone>”

Would YOU buy a used car from Samuel Alito?

VI. What’s next, II? Repubs in state and federal governments have ALREADY pass, are considering, OTHER infringements of YOUR privacy rights – whether “Roe” is invalidated or not.
Far right adherents of “originalism’/”textualism” [literal word-by-word parsing] don’t like “privacy.” It leaves “too much” of YOUR life beyond their control. They want, NEED, to “save” YOU from your “sins.”
Thus – a prime target of R-W wrath is abortion medication. Noises are ALREADY being made of “the necessity” to search or intercept YOUR mail!!!
There will be a “need’ to control marriage – to ensure the “wrong” kind of people don’t get married.
Far right noises are ALREADY being made of ‘THE NECESSITY” to prevent YOU from traveling to a free state to obtain abortion or contraceptives – and to prosecute providers in OTHER states.
Missouri is considering allowing its residents to sue ANYONE in ANY state who helps a Missouri resident [escape] to a free state to get an abortion.
Louisiana legislators moved along a bill that would define a fertilized egg as a full person [check mainstream biologists or medical people on this one!!!]
Texas law [2021] allows people in OTHER states sending abortion medication through the U.S.mail to be extradited to face felony charges.
Mississippi’s governor “refused to rule out..possibility his state would ban certain forms of contraceptives.”
The “wrong” kind of people have ALREADY been denied ability to adopt a child by various “faith-based’ groups.

Would YOU buy a used car from ANY McConnell/Roberts salespeople?

VII. What’s next, III – The Rehnquist, and especially the McConnell/Roberts “court’ have severely weakened “Separation of church & state” that was THE intent of Amendment I, and the express intent of 1776-1800 state constitutions.
4 states prohibited a “religious test” for office [Article VI]. 8 states prohibited an active minister serving in their government!!! Nearly every state had language that expressly prohibited “an established church” [Amendment I] – and much demanding language [ not “on any pretense whatsoever’].
The Rehnquist and McConnell/Roberts “court” have allowed, in several decisions, YOUR tax money to be GIVEN a church or church school [banned by laws 0f 38 states, Amendment }.
Now they have the “Carson v. Makin” Maine case that could make a rural Maine district the generalized law for all 13,800 American public school districts – GIVING YOUR TAX MONEY to a church you DON’T attend.

Would YOU buy a used car from ANY of the McConnell/Roberts sales team?

VIII. It WON’T end with “Roe” being trashed. The religious right network and their hand picked fundamentalist “judges” have numerous other ideas to achieve what numerous R-W leaders have said isTHE goal: an American theocracy.
Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country.”

When the law professor said Alito’s anti-abortion draft was written by “people on a mission,” he nailed it. The 5 far right Republican religious zealots ARE ON “the court” to achieve the result they’re “expected” to provide.

Remember what Kimball said in “The five Warning Signs..”: the Holy Mission requires “the [desired] end justifies any means.” Subverting the U.S. Constitution is acceptable. America “needs” to be “cleansed” of its “sin” of allowing people to manage their own reproductive choices. “The mission’ doesn’t permit that.

This is why “justice” Thomas said he and the other “pro-lifers” on the “court” will not be “bullied” by any of the 332 million Americans whose lives would be affected, and have the gaul to object. This is why Alito said the Holy Five would not be prevented from “finishing their work.” This is why the Holy Five “prevaricated” in their hearings [a righteous end justifies the means}.

If their “expected” invalidation of “Roe’ causes violence, if people get killed, buildings blown up – in protest against this un-American, 100% un-Constitutional ruling – so be it. The Holy Five accomplished “their mission.” The “sin” of Americans making the “wrong’ private choice about their family and personal life couldn’t be allowed to continue.

Would YOU buy a used car from these people?????

*** Bulletin – July 10, 2022 – The McConnell “court’ announced it’s verdicts. “Roe” is dead, for “national security”reasons as well as “defective and improper reasoning.” The New York state law regulating guns in public invalidated. “Christians” are given the right to pray anywhere, any time. Taxpayers are required to subsidize religious schools.

***Bulletin – August, 2022 – protests against the McConnell/Roberts “court” rulings erupt nation-wide. Protests are peaceful until police in Texas, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi break them up with tear gas, explosive grenades and force. Many protestors are injured, some hospitalized, some die.

***Bulletin- September-October, 2022 – protests grow more violent. The Holy Five “justices” are under extensive, often secretive, 24/7 armed guard. Evangelical churches are firebombed. Thousands are being arrested. The anti-“court’ protests are never-ending, day after day. Women are enraged.

***Bulletin – November 9, 2022 – Republicans, riding a “law & order” campaign and other “wedge’ issues, sweep to overwhelming victories in state and federal elections. Mitch McConnell returns as Senate Majority Leader, thus now controls two of the four federal government branches.
“Conservative” law & order and ‘public morality’ laws are passed. “Scarlet Letter’ badges MUST be worn by people convicted of “morality’ crimes: guilty of marrying the “wrong’ person; of sex for the “wrong” reasons; of using contraceptives; of not having enough children; of reading the “wrong’ books; of attending the “wrong’ church; of being gay.

***Bulletin – July, 2024 – ex-president Trump mysteriously dies. Repubs nominate Ron DeSantis for president, with Marjorie Taylor Greene for Vice President. They win the November election. Civil war breaks out – partially from widespread accusations of extensive voter suppression and ballot box stuffing. R-w militias have prepared for this – they attack anybody “not loyal” to the DeSantis administration
The DeSantis administration prevails. Government “re-education” camps and political prisons for “anti-socials” and those deemed “disloyal are constructed. The Democratic party is outlawed. Several ex=Democratic Party leaders are jailed. Trials of many involved in the 2022-2024 protests are held. Many are executed for “treason.”

*** Bulletin – June, 2054 – an “inspection report” of Trumpistan by Chinese General Wang, follows…….

The American Dream didn’t die a natural death – it was murdered – by R-W plans.

Put Alito’s anti-abortion bomb in context – with “trickle-down” reverse Robin Hood tax cuts for the rich; deregulation; Borked; “freedom fighters”; Willie Horton; “weapons of mass destruction”; Social Security privatization; birthers; Tea Party; “draining the swamp”; “election integrity”; the “stolen election”; “indoctrinating” school kids; originalism….

The “conservative” [reactionary fundamentalist] war against America just reached another marker.

The R-Ws declared war decades ago – in their own words, many times:
– 1992 Republican Convention, Pat Buchanan: “There is a religious war going on in this country..a cultural war.. for the soul of America.”
– billionaire Warren Buffett: “There’s a class warfare, all right, but its my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

The reactionary R-Ws have said, many times, they intend to take America back – to pre-1950, if not pre-1900, or pre-1850. They have said, many times, the goal is to create a theocratic plutocracy – run by Puritans and plutocrats.

The history of anti-abortion politics in America is laced with female subjugation and white supremacy – fears that women and non-whites would “leave their place” – and be “uppity.”

Don’t just read this – take every one of the BIG LIES above – do real historical/factual research – which means beyond the internet. Find the true reality. What happened from the Repub’s 1980s, 2000s, 2017 Reverse Robin Hood tax cuts? They blew up the National Debt. Nearly all benefits went to the rich and corporations.
Reagan’s Budget Director told America: it was all a FRAUD they invented. When Reagan took office, the 1789-1980 U.S. national debt was under $1 trillion – now around $30 trillion!
Money that COULD have been put into public schools, infrastructure, safety net programs, R & D, public health, 21st century energy independence – instead went into the pockets of billionaires – who have used that money to live like royalty, and sabotage the American Dream and political system.

Deregulation gave YOU the 2008 Crash – which gave the lower 95% misery. For a few years, post-2008, ALL increased American wealth went into the hands of the top 1% – not counting the Wall Street bonuses from YOUR tax dollars.

“Weapons of Mass Destruction” gave YOU the immoral Iraq War – which damaged American credibility around the world – and which led to death and life-changing injuries for lower 90% Americans; and also drove up the debt.

And so it goes – R-W “talking points”, post-1970, are virtually all BIG LIES, usually crafted by Madison /avenue skills and plausibility, usually appealing to YOUR emotions, always. LIES.

Immediate analysis of Alito’s Anti-Abortion Abomination described it thus”
– Bret Stephens: “Overturning Roe Is Not Conservative”
– Jesse Wegman: “The Court is Out of Step With the Country”. [what polls said]
– Adam Liptak: “Decades-Old Arguments From Right Finally Find a Majority to Adopt Them”
– Elizabeth Weise: “Pregnancy-related Deaths could soar 20%”
– Duke law professor Neil Siegel: “It reads like it was done by people on a mission.”

Ask YOURSELF: WHY did they say these things? Look up their arguments. What did Siegel mean. by “people on a mission”? What does Liptak mean by “decades-old arguments from the right”? WHY does Wegman say “the court is out of step with the country”? WHY does Stephens say “overturning Roe is not conservative”? WHY did Weise say more women – maybe YOUR wife, sister, daughter – are going to die?????

Put Alito in context. WHY is he on the “court”??? What did some of his pre-“court” colleagues say about his judicial conduct? What has been the IMPACT of Alito’s votes, on REAL people?

The Constitution’s Preamble states “WE the people [made this Constitution] to “establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility..promote the general Welfare..”
If you examine “justice” Alito’s “supreme court” rhetoric and votes – in what ways has he “established Justice and promoted the general Welfare”? Or – has he been destructive of the same?

“justice” Alito has voted for enabling political corruption [Citizens United], has voted against fair elections [Shelby County], enabled a corporation to discriminate because of its religious beliefs [Hobby Lobby], voted to increase “gun rights” twice [Heller}, voted to force YOU to subsidize a church YOU don’t attend [Espinoza].
How does ANY of this “promote the general Welfare” of all 332 million Americans???

The general PATTERN of the McConnell/Roberts “court” has been one of rewarding the “wish list of the Repubs voter base. Invalidating “Roe” is just the most sensational of that PATTERN.
The McConnell/Roberts “court” is authoritarian. Fiver committed literalist authoritarians on it are now poised to do ANYTHING THEY WANT. And – they don’t want to hear any complaints while they go about “their work.”

A remaining question: when will women be forbidden to drive, walk around i public without a proper male escort, go out in public without a burqa? When are ALL contraceptives banned? When does the McConnell/Roberts “court” say YOU have NO right to privacy? When are gays going to be declared untermenschen? When is ALL sex outside marriage banned? When is sex only for conceiving children?
When do the “morality police” arrest YOU for your illegal behavior???

Invalidating “Roe” is to cross the Rubicon. It’ll be easier for the McConnell/Roberts “court” to accomplish other things on the “pro-life”, corporate agenda. The hints are there in earlier failed attempts at “reforms” [*** ‘reforms’ is another R-W BIG LIE; these ‘reforms” usually are a step back to repression].
After “Roe” is gone, so is an entire line of earlier Supreme Court rulings about personal rights. The ENTIRE American arc of freedom is based on being “let alone.” If. YOU. don’t control YOUR private sex life – YOU have NO rights. As in any other dictatorship – the “state” will OWN. YOU. Just like in the days of slavery, YOUR. master owned YOUR children, as he owned YOU.

“Dred Scott” ruled slaves weren’t people. The McConnell/Roberts “court” is poised to say YOU aren’t free.

***Ronald Reagan:”We establish no religion in this country, we command no worship, we mandate no belief, nor will we ever. Church and state are, must remain, separate. All are free to believe or not believe..our Constitution..protects the free exercise of all religions..this fine line requires government to be neutral.”

I. The political “pro-life” agenda is, without doubt, THE single most un-American, un-Constitutional effort in American history. It is a gross violation of basic American principles. Mandatory motherhood?????

***Isaac Backus [1781]: “As religion must always be a matter between God and individuals, no man can be made a member of a truly religious society by force or without his consent, neither can any corporation that is not a religious society have a just right to govern religious affairs.”

II. Anti-abortionism is Nazi law brought to America. See Himmler’s January l6, 1937 radio broadcast on the two “abominations” he planned to eradicate. See official German 1933-1945 law on abortion and homosexuality. See Nazi theology on the role of women. See Auschwitz inmate badges: purple for Jehovah’s Witnesses, pink for homosexuals, yellow for Jews [plus red, green, black badges for other “undesirables”]

***Justice Brandeis [Olmstead]: “the most important 4th Amendment point was the spirit behind the Amendment, which was to ensure privacy: “The makers of our Constitution undertook..to protect Americans in their beliefs, their thoughts, their emotions, and their senses. They conferred, as against the Government, the RIGHT TO BE LET ALONE – the most comprehensive of rights and THE right most valued by civilized men..The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachments by men of zeal, well-meaning, but without understanding.”

III. Alito as bad historian, I: “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences.” This IS a description of the McConnell/Roberts “court” history from day 1. From cruelty to corruption, McConnell/Roberts decisions range from “Ledbetter,” to “Heller,” to “Citizens United,’ to “Shelby County,” to “Hobby Lobby,” to “Janus,” to “Espinoza.” America is factually less safe, less fair, less honest, less just because of the McConnell/Roberts “court.” In future law classes, these will be held up as examples of “exceptionally weak” reasoning and violations of basic American principles [as some are NOW].

***Randall Terry: “Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty..are called by God to conquer this country. We don’t want equal time..don’t want pluralism.”

IV. Alito as bad historian, II” “The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision.”
A]. the Constitution doesn’t contain “corporation,” yet, since 1886, the “supreme court” has GIVEN corporations many [false] “rights.”
B]. the Constitution doesn’t mention checks or balances, or separation of powers, or co-equal branches, or states’ rights, or many other American rights – yet they exist.
C]. sex is not in the Constitution. Are Americans not entitled to have sex because its not in the Constitution?
d]. “women” are not in the Constitution. Is Alito confirming what other right-wing authoritarians have said: keep women “in their place” [barefoot, pregnant, in the kitchen]???

***George Washington: “Government, being among other purposes, instituted to protect the consciences of men from oppression, it is certainly the duty of Rulers, not only to abstain from it themselves, but according to their stations, to prevent it in others.”

V. In 1692 Salem, 19 innocent people were executed. All but one among prosecutors was a minister. The 164l Massachusetts legal code was based on three books from the Christian Bible: Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy.. The three top capital crimes: idolatry, witchcraft, blasphemy.

***Paul Weyrich: “..it is war. It is a war of ideology..a war of ideas..a war of our way of life..to be fought with the same intensity and dedication as..a shooting war..” [1981]

VI. Alito as bad historian, III; “The inescapable conclusion is that a right of abortion is not deeply rooted in the nation’s history and traditions.”
A]. Amendment IV: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons…”
B]. Amendment IX: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparge others retained by the people.”
C]. James Madison [1792]: essay on ‘property’: the “larger and juster meaning” of the term. It “embraces every thing to which a man may attach value and have a right”. in the broader sense it meant that “a man has property, in his opinions..property very dear to him in the safety and liberty of his person..in the free use of his faculties..In a word..he may actually said to have a property in his rights.”
D]. Amendment III: “No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house…” Constitutional scholar Amar: “…this amendment was, even at the Founding, understood as connected to sexual privacy issues..colonists expressing hostility to Parliament’s Quartering Act placing soldiers “abed” with America’s “Wives and Daughters.”

***Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church of Dallas, has called gays “miserable,” “filthy,” “degrading.” “What a lot of people miss is, America is not a church where everyone should be welcome regardless of race and background.” “Islam is wrong. It is a heresy from the pit of hell. Judaism – you can’t be saved being a Jew.” In a 2011 sermon, he called the Catholic Church a corrupt version of Christianity that sprang from ancient Babylonian cults.

VII. Christian fundamentalists , 1774-1802, presented petitions to the Virginia General Assembly that to require a person to support even the religion of his choice denied him his freedom of choice and his right to religious liberty; Virginia evangelicals [1776] demanded separation of church and state; Baptist preacher John Leland advocated radical separation of church and state, and rejected the idea America was a Christian nation; 1785 Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom: to compel anyone to support religious opinions hi did not share was tyrannical.

***Pat Robertson: “You say you’re supposed to be nice to Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that and the other thing. Nonsense. I don’t have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist.” [700 Club]

VIII. Alito as bad historian, IV: [..”abortion not deeply rooted in history and tradition..”]
A] During the 14th Amendment debates, John Bingham and allies expressly declared on the floor of Congress, they envisioned overturning “Barron,” and creating a reconstructed America in which basic rights of expression, religion, property, privacy and fairness promised against the federal government would apply with equal force against states.
B] In “Meyer,” the Court said liberty must include “the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire knowledge, to marry, to establish a home and bring up children..”
C] In “Katz,” the Court held the 4th Amendment could apply even f no technical property-rights had been violated. Justice Harlan: the ket 4th Amendment issue was whether the government had violated a person’s “reasonable expectations to privacy.”
D]. In “Poe,” Justice Harlan stated a law making it criminal for married couples to use contraceptives is “an intolerable and unjustifiable invasion of privacy in the conduct of the most intimate concerns of an individual’s personal life.” The Constitution protects not only rights expressly specified..but all rights “which are fundamental; which belong..to the citizens of all free governments.”
E]. In “Griswold,” Justice Douglas said a general “right to privacy” could be found ‘nestled between the lines of the Bill of Rights.” Griswold invalidated a Connecticut criminal law prohibiting the use of birth control. A fundamentalist church worked behind the scenes for years to maintain that Connecticut law – and requested the public not know this.
F] In “Baird,” Justice Brennan said: “if the right to privacy means anything, it is the right of an individual, married or single, to be free from the unwarranted government intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision whether to bear or begat a child.”

***Barry Goldwater [1991]: “Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless the decent people connected to them recognize religion has no place in public policy. They must learn to make their views known without trying to make their views the only alternative.”

iIX. Christian Reconstructionists envision a society where government posts would be reserved for the righteous, as long as they are male. There would be thousands of executions yearly, with stoning preferred because it would turn deaths into “community projects.” Sinners marked for death would include adulterous women or lying about virginity, blasphemers, witches, children who strike parents, and gay men. Eliminated; unions, Social Security, public schools, unemployment benefits, environmental laws, secular government.

***Republicans on Rape”. “If a woman has [the right to an abortion], why shouldn’t a man be free to use his superior strength to force himself on a woman? At least the rapist’s pursuit of sexual freedom doesn’t [in most cases] result in anyone’s death.” [Lawrence Lockman; R-ME}

X. Alito as bad historian, V: {no abortion rights in USA history or tradition}
A]. 1923 and 1925 Supreme Court rulings on parental rights. [only some parental rights???]
B}. landmark 1942 “Skinner” case: the right to reproduce “one of the basic civil rights of man”
C]. 1952, Supreme Court invalidated stomach pumping for evidence; 1985, Supreme Court invalidated surgical removal of a bullet lodged in a suspect’s shoulder [limits on gov’t’s ability to invade a person’s body]
D]. overturning “Roe” would violate a woman’s “equal protection of laws 14th Amendment rights – because only women are affected [ no men are denied medical procedures of similar nature]

***Republicans on Rape” “Even when life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that is something that God intended to happen.” [Richard Mourdock – R-TX]

XI. “When Religion Becomes Evil,’ by Charles Kimball, poses “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion:” absolute truth claims, blind obedience, establishing the “Ideal” time, the end justifies any means, declaring holy war.
Public evidence shows YOU that the far religious right zealots pushing the “pro-life” agenda have already crossed many of the above “red lines.” Kimball states [121] that U.S. reconstructionists are only one step removed from their counterparts with plans for n Islamic state.

***Jerry Falwell: “I hope to see the day when as i the early days of our country, we won’t have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over and Christians will be running them..We must never allow our children to forget that this is a Christian nation. We must take back what is rightfully ours.”

XII> “When does Human Life Begin?” – Arthur Caplan [Aug/Sept, 2014; Free Inquiry]: those arguing for embryo “personhood” “fail to acknowledge..that conception does not always create an embryo life, much less a baby. In fact, it usually does not…The biggest empirical problem is the scientific fact that a large percentage of embryos lack the capacity, under any circumstances to become human beings. During that period of embryonic development…’…….’preimplantation development’ – up to 50% of human conceptions fail to survive..many embryos that. result from conception – indeed the majority of them – lack the capacity to become living human beings…Science and medicine know this..To argue that personhood begins at conception is to reach for a moral stance that the facts simply do not support..When a fetus has developed a brain that can support its basic biological functions, probably around 6 months of life, it can be reasonably argued that personhood has begun.”

***Pat Robertson: “The Constitution..is a marvelous document for self-government by Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheist people, they can use it to destroy the very foundations of our society.”

XIII. Where does it all end? Alito’s language opens the door to bans on forms of birth control [pill & IUD] that prevent implementation of fertilized eggs – because this might not “..serve legitimate state interests.” It could lead to using biometric monitoring to police pregnancies, where women are held criminally liable for miscarriage and stillbirth – prosecution which has ALREADY occurred.
“A study by the National Advocates for Pregnant Women documented 413 cases between 1973..and 2005 in which pregnant women were detained or their autonomy was severely limited by authorities, including arrests, forced medical intervention and forced detention in hospitals.” [Laura Harrison, 7/14/19; Wash. Post]

***Ralph Reed: “What Christians have to do is to take back the country..I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians..and Christian values.”

XIV. “When Your Rapist Demands Custody” – Michaela Haas [Sept/Oct, 2019; Mother Jones]: 12-year-old Tiffany was raped by an 18-year-old, made pregnant. He raped another young girl, got 5-15 years in prison. Tiffany dropped out of school, “stayed afloat working odd jobs.” When Tiffany applied for state assistance in 2017, the male judge without looking at circumstances, granted Tiffany’s rapist joint custody and ordered her to live within 100 miles of him, give him her address, ordered her son’s birth certificate to have the rapist’s name added.
This also happened to 18-year-old Noemi, raped by a co-worker. A prosecutor and judge allowed him to plead down to 3rd degree sexual assault. She got a restraining order against him, but when she applied for Medicaid, the state contacted the perp – who demanded visitation rights, which a court granted. Every other week Noemi is forced to leave her 7-year-old daughter with the rapist for the weekend. What could possibly go wrong????????????????????
1/3 f states allow this. Co-parenting with your rapist means you get to relive the rape repeatedly – and all the PTSD, depression, fear, anxiety, unable to work that come with that. “Serving the interest of the state”???????

***Republicans on Rape”. “Rape victims should make the best of a bad situation.” [Rick Santorum; R-PA]

XV. Invalidating “Roe” threatens an entire chain of Supreme Court rulings and basic American principles. American history and tradition show deference to individuals making their own, private, decisions about the most private of all human actions. Letting politicians interfere violates ALL American history.
If YOU can’t control YOUR sex life – YOU have NO rights – the “state owns you [Nazi Germany, Russia].
What could be more un-American than that????

P.S. #1: There are two other “religious liberty” cases awaiting June decision by the McConnell/Roberts ‘supreme court.” One would allow public prayer on the50-yard line of high school football games. The third would take the unique rural Maine school case and generalize to ALL 13,800 American public school districts – FORCING taxpayers to subsidize private religious schools [that they might not attend]. A major right-wing “wish list” helper.
The Founding Fathers worked against this. See 1776-1800 state constitutions for VERY EXPLICIT language – my favorite is the 1776 North Carolina constitution, Articles XXXIV.
If the McConnell/Roberts ‘court’ rules “as expected” [why is that said?] – there aren’t many more McConnell/Roberts decisions necessary to create the theocratic plutocracy the far right has planned for, funded, demanded.

P.S. #2. Does it strike you, being a “reasonable person” – that 5 people, all raised in the same fundamentalist church, will now get to make law that church’s official position on abortion [and other things, some of which they’ve ALREADY done] as being just a little suspicious??? Might you, being a “reasonable person” begin to think this whole chain of events had been choreographed – like the entire thing was on a “conveyor belt?”
Might a “reasonable person” think this was all just too convenient; that just maybe “justice’ had been rigged???

P.S. #3 Might YOU, as a “reasonable person” be inclined to think that the unauthorized expose of the McConnell/Roberts plans is the REAL reason for anger? That now too many [332 million] people know what was supposed to be an unstopable surprise? Might a “reasonable person” think that just maybe whomever revealed the plans is not a villain, but a hero?
Is it time for the 5 reactionary “justices’ to resign – in disgrace – for the mockery of justice that was attempted here? Is it also time for certain “Senators’ to resign – in disgrace – for the mockery of procedure and lawmaking they’ve perpetrated? How many crimes are greater than trashing the Supreme Court? Well, perhaps planning a coup – like January 6, 2021???
How many ways does a “reasonable person” spell ‘treason?”

P.S. #4 – Does it strike YOU funny/sad, that both Canada and Mexico have legalized abortion – and America, the home of modern democracy – is now going the way of a repressive reactionary theocracy?
Isn’t there something rotten here??? Something really un-American
How tragic, the McConnell/Roberts ‘court’ has brought the policies of Hitler and Stalin here.
OR – is it the return of the policies of the Puritans?
When do the public executions begin?
Are they free, or do we need tickets?
Tickets will be sold at the “right’ churches!!!!!!
Praise be.

Brutality and cruelty come in many forms.

Hitler Junior is savaging Ukraine – to “save them from the “nazism” of their Jewish leader.
To “save” the Ukrainians – he’s blowing up hospitals, schools, shopping centers, homes, businesses, civic infrastructure.
To “save” Ukrainians – his troops are raping mothers in front of their children, raping elderly women, murdering young children, looting homes, looting museums, destroying Ukrainian culture.
To “save” Ukraine – he’s creating a world food shortage – which threatens to starve millions of innocents.

“Christian” leaders and politicians in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi are “saving” ignorant Americans from their “sins” – by legal force, according to THEIR interpretation of ONE fundamentalist interpretation of ONE religion>.
These “Christians” are demanding that others live by THEIR religious dogma – by force if necessary.
These “Christians” have ancestors: the Ku Klux Klan, who had their own special legal rulings – “Dred Scottt” and “Plessy.. The KKK was followed by other “Christians” in the “White Citizens Counsils,” who used “Jim Crow” laws.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

Hitler Junior is testing world civilization to see whether democratic-leaning “civilized” nations will stop his many aggressions: cyber warfare, bombing Syrian civilians, invading other nations, etc.
Hitler Junior and his klepto cronies first victimized the Russian people. They have then spread their poison around the world in secret bank accounts.
Hitler Junior claims HE can wage war on an innocent country – BUT – that nation is NOT allowed to do anything to defend itself by, in any way, attacking Russia. That would be “unfair.”

“Christian” politicians have claimed America “needs” their “pro-life” legislation in order to “purify” itself from their reproductive “sin.” And, America MUST “Purify” itself from the biological “sin” of homosexuality.
These “Christian” politicians are testing America to see if America knows its own legal foundation and heritage – as described in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and Amendments.
These “Christian” politicians claim their invasion of other American’s most private lives is for “the sinners'” own benefit – just like Hitler Junior claims for Ukraine.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

The McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” claims it, and it alone, understands what the Founders meant by “Congress shall make no aw respecting an establishment of religion..” They DO NOT, by the Founders’ own words.
State constitutions, 1776-1800, forbade a “religious test” for office [Article VI], meaning a “pro-life” requirement for judges is un-Constitutional.
8 state constitutions forbade an active minister from serving in their state government.
Nearly all said: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another..”
North Carolina’s 1776 Constitution, Articles XXXIV: “..neither shall any person, on ANY PRETENSE WHATSOEVER…’ be compelled to attend a church he didn’t want, to pay for church properties, support a ministry he didn’t believe.

Brutality and cruelty comes in many forms.

Keep real First Amendment, 1776-1800 state constitutions, state laws forbidding taxpayer money going to ANY church – when the 5 reactionary fundamentalists, all raised in the same church, issue their “expected” decisions in June.
Remember their arrogance also, as stated by the usual hitman of bad decisions recently: “We cannot allow our decisions to be affected by any extraneous influences such as concern about the public’s reaction to our work.” GOT that? – they don’t want to hear from YOU “sinners,” about what they’re doing to YOUR life.
“Their work” is “saving” YOU from Your “sinful” reproductive choices, from not wanting to hear/see a person pray on the 50 yard line, from not wanting to be forced to to support a church YOU don’t attend. The historically ignorant religious zealots on the McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” – say to YOU: “DON’T QUESTION US – WE KNOW THE TRUTH, YOU DUMMIES HAVE NO CLUE.”

Welcome to the fascist state of real life Gilead. Or – perhaps, welcome back to 1692 Salem. The Puritans on the U. S. “supreme’ McConnell/Roberts “court” will make you better people despite your failings. And if YOU don’t accept this “wisdom,” they’ve created a new “Scarlet Letter” for you – to be enforced by religious zealot civilian vigilantes.

Brutality and cruelty come in many forms – usually by dictators and right-wing zealots.

The incredible irony: “the irresponsible blue states” are the ones who have subsidized the RED low-tax states for over 80 years – the states who often cry “government waste” and “cut taxes”!!!!! The RED states are – in effect – stealing the wealth produced by somebody else; which in Republican Talk, makes the RED STATES the “takers” and makes the Blue states “the makers.”!!!!!
But, then again, if nothing else, the Repubs are noted for “the BIG LIE’ !!!!!

“Fact check: Blue states actually fund red states [GOP is promoting opposite stance]” – Stephen Ohlemacher [12/10/17; Assoc. Press]
– Repubs “have spent months promoting the MYTH that rd low-tax states are subsidizing blue high-tax states because of the deduction for state and local taxes.”
– Associated Press fact check finds “it’s actually the other way around..in a big way.
– Repubs want to eliminate the deduction in the 2017 tax Reverse Robin Hood cut.
– it’s true taxpayers in the high-tax states benefit most from the deduction. However “these states send far more tax dollars to Washington than residents in low-tax states.”
– “most high-tax states send more money to Washington than they get back in federal spending.”
-“Most low-tax states make a profit from the federal government’s system of taxing and spending.”
– Mississippi got $2.l3 for every tax dollar sent to Washington; West Virginia got $2.07; Kentucky got $1.90; South Carolina got $1.71.
– New Jersey got back 74 cents for every ax dollar sent to Washington; New York got 81 cents; Connecticut got 82 cents; Massachusetts got 83 cents; California got 96 cents.

“Blue States subsidize red states. Red states want even more:’ Bruce Schulman [11/2/17; Wash. Post]
– “South Carolina..despite its long history of opposition to the federal government, takes in $4 in federal spending for every dollar its citizens pay in federal taxes.”
– “At its core, the debate over the SALT deduction reflects a fundamental disagreement about the nature of American public life. Are the states “with their acts together” the ones that keep taxes lowest or the ones that provide good schools, safe roads, the best job opportunities and the highest incomes?”
– latest U>S. News educational survey of educational quality: South Carolina was #50
– list of best states for employment: “Trump-loving” West Virginia was #50
– “In the 1940s and 1950s, representatives of the nation’s poorest sections, led by southern members of Congress, reframed their historic antipathy to the federal government [for more money]”
– “by 1962, the relationship between state income and grants had reversed itself and slightly favored poorer regions such as the South.”
– highway construction benefited low-tax states; the federal government paid 90% and “poorer states eagerly participated..the federal government injected billions of dollars of highway funding into the South.”
– “The flood of federal money into the emerging Sunbelt – provided by states in the Northeast and industrial Midwest..grew so pronounced..it became the subject of a heated debate during the 1970s..[as] the Sunbelt boomed while the old industrial heartland faced an almost catastrophic decline.”
****I’d assume you history buffs realize this means the “winners” of the Civil War are now subsidizing the “losers” of that war,” among other ironies]


So, the Republican BIG LIES. just keep coming – one blatant propaganda piece after another. Some of them, like this one, absolutely shameless.

Matthew 6: 5-6: “When you pray, do not do as the hypocrites do, for they love to pray standing in the synagogue and on the corners of streets, so that they may be seen by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward. Instead, when you pray, enter into your room and shut the door, and pray to thy Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret shall reward you openly.”

A football coach wants to pray on the 50 yard line. He’s filed a lawsuit. Ask yourself: WHO is paying for the lawsuit? Supreme Court suits can cost multiple millions. Ask yourself: WHICH legal team is supporting this case? WHO finances them? Ask yourself: why is it “necessary” to pray on the 50 yard line? WHO stands to gain if the McConnell/Roberts “court” supports his concept of his “religious rights?”

Where does this end? Will we now see pre and post-game prayers at mid-ice, mid-court, mid-pitch, home plate? If YOU have meetings with various public and private officials, will YOU be forced to sit through a prayer session? Will transit drivers ask YOU to pray with them before your journey starts? Will YOU be required to pray with your dentist before he/she work on your mouth? Will pilots, after flight attendants give instructions, ask you to pray with them before YOUR flight? Will YOU be required to pray before the cashier rinks up your purchases?

What if YOU don’t want to be forced to pray? Will YOU be denied services? Ask yourself: what if this man hadn’t been “a Christian?” Would we be discussing this if the prayer had been a Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist prayer? Or – a satanic ceremony? A Native American prayer?

If the Mcconnell/Roberts “court” rules for this man – how many prayers could YOU be forced to say each day – at a store, at YOUR cafe, to get your car out of a parking lot, to get on “public” transit?????

Are YOU gullible enough to believe this is only about one man praying [at the 50 yard line]??? What forces in America [world-wide] want to inject THEIR. religious beliefs into YOUR. life??? Do research people!!! WHO has been saying for over 30 years “there is a religious war in America?” WHO has said publicly that other religions, not theirs, are lesser, invalid faiths? WHO has already tried to bend laws so they can deny YOU. services [legal prescriptions, adoptions of children, legal medical services, etc.]???

Read Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil.” Think on Kimball’s “The Five Warning Signs of Corruption in Religion” [absolute truth claims, the end justifies any means…] Why does Kimball suggest the Taliban and the American “religious right” are on a continuum? Is it perhaps that the Taliban has an extremely “conservative” interpretation of Islam, and the “Christian right” has an extremely “conservative” interpretation of what it says is “Christianity?”

Do. You. want modern day “Puritans” telling YOU. how to run. YOUR. life?????????????

1776 – 1800. U.S. Constitutional. Law:
– 1792 Delaware, Article I, Section l: “no man shall or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship..against his own free will… Article 29: “There shall be no establishment of any one religious sect in this State in preference to another…”
– 1798 Georgia, Article IV, Section 10: “No person within this State shall, upon any pretence be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping God in a manner agreeable to his own conscience..”
– 1792 Kentucky, Article XII, Section 3: “That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences…”
– 1776 Maryland, Article XXXIII: “..wherefore no person ought by any law be molested in his person..on account of his religious persuasion..nor ought any person be compelled to frequent or maintain..any particular ministry..”
-1780 Massachusetts, First Part, Article II: “And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained.. for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience.”
– 1784 New Hampshire, Part One, Article I, Section 5: “Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship GOD according to the dictates of his own conscience..and no subordination of any one sect..to another, shall ever be established..”
– 1776 New Jersey, Article XVIII: “That no person shall ever..be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshipping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor, under any pretence whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship…..no establishment of any one religion…”
– 1776 North Carolina, Article XXXIV: ” shall be no establishment of anyone religious church..neither shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith or judgment..”
– ***** 1791 U.S. “Bill of Rights,” Amendment I: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

The historically-challenged McConnell/Roberts “supreme court” wants to examine whether a high school football coach should be allowed to publicly pray on the 50 yard line, in the presence of others. Major issue: whether formally, or informally [peer pressure, pressure] members of either football team will feel COMPELLED – against “the dictates of his own conscience” – to attend, so as not to feel hostile, or not be a “member of the team.”

Previously, the 9th U.S, Circuit Court of Appeals said; “Context matters. At issue in this case is not, as Kennedy attempts to gloss it, a personal and private exercise of faith. At issue was – in every sense of the word – a demonstration, and because Kennedy demanded that it take place immediately after the final whistle, it was a demonstration necessarily directed at students and the attending public.”
Meaning, Kennedy is not “shutting the door and praying privately.”

Barry Goldwater: “Religious factions will go on imposing their will on others unless decent people connected to them realize that religion has no place in public policy.”
Robert E. Lee: “Is it not strange that the descendants of those Pilgrim Fathers who crossed the Atlantic to preserve their own freedom of opinion have always proved themselves intolerant of the spiritual liberty of others?”
George Washington: “I have often expressed my sentiments, that every man..ought to be protected in worshipping the Deity according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
[above 3 quotes courtesy of the Harper Book of American quotes]

“Freedom of religion” means both freedom of and freedom from. You cannot have one without the other.”i

Abraham Lincoln: “At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of free men, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

The Founding fathers had four main fears: corruption, slavery, religion, mobs. Unfortunately, we have seen all four brought to life in recent years

CORRUPTION was the Founders’ number one fear. The word “CORRUPTION” appears in Madison’s incomplete notes 54 times in the 110 day Convention. The Founders desired a “virtuous” republic, where the natural impulses of men were limited by government structures; hoped to inspire “virtuous” men to run for office.

SLAVERY – in modern form, racism, has been a devastating “original sin” for America. Unscrupulous politicians have often used it as a “divide-and-conquer” strategy. Unfortunately, that has often worked.

That they would be forced to obey a RELIGION they didn’t support was a major concern. We have numerous quoters by Founders expressing this deep fear. For definitive documentation of these fears, please research 1776-1800 state constitutions. My favorite is the 1776 North Carolina , Articles XXXIV [“..on any pretense whatsoever..”]

MOBS. The Founders planned a democratic republic that operated on REASON. Thus, freedom of speech, press, petition, assembly – citizens would talk among themselves. Free public schools and libraries.

John Adams: “The declaration that our People are hostile to a government made by themselves, for themselves, and conducted by themselves, is an insult.”

From 2010 forward, America faces an increasing crisis of many things combining, not the least is confidence in itself. Historians Suzanne Mettler and Robert Lieberman’s “FOUR THREATS’ discusses the crisis in historical context. A significant problem is that never before has America faced all FOUR THREATS simultaneously – now we do.

The FOUR THREATS; POLITICAL POLARIZATION, WHO BELONGS?, ECONOMIC INEQUALITY, EXECUTIVE AGGRANDIZEMENT.

Independent watchdog “Freedom House” downgraded the United States from #31 to #51 for backsliding on democratic fitness qualities. “The Economist” said America had declined from a “full democracy” to a “flawed democracy” by 2017.
WHY? For perspective, research the “14 characteristics of fascism.” Think very hard, how much and on how many of those 14 do you find evidence of American descent to a “flawed democracy” or, worse, already there?

Mettler and Lieberman: the four key attributes of democracy: free and fair elections, the rule of law, the legitimacy of the opposition, and the integrity of rights.

Recently, elections are becoming less free and fair [“dark money,” misinformation, foreign meddling]. For some, public office has become a chance for wealth. Basic rights have been challenged. Increasing “us-them” polarization.
Mettler and Lieberman are NOT alone in concern. Democracy is fragile. Laws, rules, norms only go so far. People, in and out of government, have to WANT to operate in “democratic” ways.

Recently, America has witnessed what can happen when one person, with the help of “enablers,” decides they don’t want to play by the rules/norms/expectations. Result? CORRUPTION.

For confirmation and perspective, consult truth-telling publications like “Mother Jones” and “The Atlantic”; listen to what our foreign friends say; read and THINK. Ask uncomfortable questions.
WHY do the “happiest people on earth” live in Scandinavia? WHY is America less fair to ordinary people, like it was 1947-1973? Political conduct in Congress changed after the 1994 election – WHY and WHO was responsible? Find unspun IRS-GAO-CBO statistics on American income distribution, pre-1980, versus, post-1980.

A number of books on CORRUPTION exist To understand 202X America, you MUST read at least one. 2022 America is NOT an accident – that is the first thing you need to dispel.
“American Kleptocracy” “Kleptopia”. “On Corruption in America”. “Corruption in America”. “Dark Money”
“Shadow Network” “The One Percent Solution” “Democracy in Chains” “How Democracies Die”

Key books on ECONOMIC INEQUALITY:
‘TheSpirit Level”. “Divided the Perils of Our Growing Inequality”. “The Price of Inequality” “Big Box Swindle”
“Capital in the Twenty-First Century” “Fulfillment Winning and Losing in One-Click America”

POLARIZATION Sorry, but all EVIDENCE points to one segment/party creating this for economic/political gain since the 1980s, if not 1960s.
“Evil Geniuses”. “Broken Government” “It’s Even Worse Than It Looks”. “Authoritarian Nightmare”
“Twilight of Democracy”. “American Nightmare” “The Fascism This Time” “American Fascists”
“It Was All A Lie”

SO – what are. YOU. going to do? Do. YOU. care about what happens to America? Is a country where “only” a high school grad a MORAL society??? How can “we” allow an economy where 2/3 of the people have an excellent chance to struggle or fail??? If the “most important person in the world,” the American president, makes $400,000 – why does ANYBODY make $l million, let alone $1 billion?

1947-1973, America reached close to a perfect “middle class” society. WHY did “we” allow that to be stolen from us??? WHO did the theft? Answers from these:
– Don Barlett & James Steele”s “The Betrayal of the American Dream” [double Pulitzer Prize winners]
– Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?” [Pulitzer Prize winner]
– Charles Lewis, Bill Allison, Center for Public Integrity”s “The Cheating of America”

Teddy Roosevelt: “We, here in America, hold in our hands the hope of the world, the fate of the coming years; and shame and disgrace will be ours if in our eyes the light of high resolve is dimmed, if we trail in the dust the golden hopes of men.”

SO – will we “die by suicide”??? Will we insult ourselves by trashing OUR own government? Will we “trail in the dust the golden hopes of men”??? Will “we” continue to listen to media morons, internet idiots, greedy kleptocrats posing as “saviors”??? Have “we” learned. ANYTHING. from our parents, schools, churches???

“Freedom”. isn’t free. YOU have to WANT it. Not just for yourself, but all 331 million of “us.”

The reactionary right wing – which tries to call itself “conservative” – MUST have “enemies.” They MUST have somebody, ANYBODY – to hate. Then, they can manufacture “reasons” why you too, should hate.

Hate those untermenschen; hate those “traitors”; hate those “undeserving’ people; hate those “enemies of the people”; hate “socialists”; hate “fags”; hate liberals; hate public health workers; hate those elderly election volunteers; hate doctors and nurses; hate abortion providers; hate labor unionists; hate workers who want livable wages; hate “communists”; hate Jews; hate Muslims; hate “Mexican rapists”; hate immigrants; hate “fake news” mainstream media; hate teachers trying to “indoctrinate” your kids; hate airlines workers trying to force you to wear a mask; hate those “freeloaders” on welfare; hate women’s libbers; hate women who refuse you sex; hate those people attending the “wrong church”; hate Black people; hate Latinos; hate Asians; hate transgendered people; hate “fraudulent voters”; hate gun control advocates; hate anybody who supports “separation of church and state” [like theFounders!!!]; hate people who “aren’t real Americans”; hate people who say you’re racist or intolerant.

The right MUST have enemies because then they can “divide and conquer”; then they can manufacture “wedge issues”; then they can misdirect your anger away from the the people who are guilty to the “Other_ – fake bogeymen, fake “devils”. And the real perps walk free [usually to the bank].
Quite often, the real perps are those who are funding the “enemies” search. Front groups with innocuous and patriotic sounding titles to cover the “dark money” trail.

Immigration is a current “hot” issue. There are a reported 60-80 million displaced and refugee people on earth. Many want a better life, many have smartphones. Many want to get to the tolerant and advanced “Western” liberal democracies.
People in the “target” countries have their own fears: what will X number of “them” mean to our culture, our jobs, our way of life? Unscrupulous politicians, world-wide, use people’s apprehension about being “overwhelmed” by X numbers of foreigners. “Elect me, I”ll make sure those “XX” people don’t get in and ruin our country.”
If his/her promise to “solve” the immigration crisis is all you wanted, then the amoral politicians DOESN’T. have to explain what else he/she is going to do – no matter how evil and corrupt.
And – neither they nor anybody else tells you what the REAL cause of millions of people leaving their homes and businesses. They don’t have to – you bought the lies.

The reactionary right MUST have enemies because they can’t tell you the truth – and still get elected. Numerous right-wing politicians have already confessed that. One former “conservative” political operative of some 20 plus years wrote a book about this. Because of all the lies, the only way to reform that party was to “burn it to the ground.”

ARE. YOU. THINKING/ The liberal 1933-1976 period produced Social Security, the G.I. Bill, union rights, Medicare, civil rights laws. Americans were the happiest people on earth, envied world-wide. The “conservative” 1980-202X era produced tax cuts for the rich and corporations, outsourcing American jobs, declining lower 90% incomes, the 2008 Crash which hurt the lower 90%, increasing polarization [due to lies]. The happiest people on earth live in Scandinavian social democracies. All fact-based analysis is based upon pre and post-1980 statistics.
Right-wing Republican presidencies since 1968 are known for criminality, corruption, impeachment and resignation, major scandals and constitutional crises. Nixon was forced to resign because principled Republicans told him he had to go. Trump wasn’t forced to resign because there are now few principled Republican politicians.
Besides all this, Republican administrations are known for LIES, and, lists of enemies.

The right MUST have enemies because they operate in a climate of fear and chaos, the twin smoke screens obscuring what they”re planning and doing. If they get you angry, they know your fears will overcome your rational thinking.

Follow the bouncing “enemies of the people” in recent years. Previously it was public health workers, doctors and nurses, trying to give you “fake news” on COVID. Previously it was elderly elections volunteers and those dastardly “fraudulent voters” stealing elections. Recently it was “un-American” teachers “indoctrinating” your kids. Now it appears the new “enemy” is Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, and the more evil Daisy Duck and Minnie Mouse. [does it bother you, scare you, that the right wing is using government power to punish Mickey, Donald, Daisy, and Minnie for exercising their free speech rights?}

Hang on – it is only April. There are 6 more months before the 2022 elections. Would you care to bet on what new “enemies of the people” the right wing will find hiding under your bed? Maybe you should set up an office pool on who/what new “enemies of the people” will be “discovered” to be?

We’ve already had one right-wing, Republican, reign of terror looking for “enemies of the people.” It was known as “the McCarthyism era.” Reactionary, fear-mongering, Republicans instituted a witch hunt for all the “communists” under your bed, or in the government. Some were angry that a Republican president wasn’t reactionary enough.

Given the right wing’s track record, odds are just about ANY. American could wind up on the “enemies of the people” list. Give them enough time – and – YOU’ LL be on it too..

“It is the old practice of despots to use part of the people to keep the rest in order.” {Thomas Jefferson]

Galileo’s house arrest. Rachel Carson” “silent Spring” attacked. Spanish Inquisition
300 whites lynched i South, 1830-1860. Colin Kaepernick unsigned
Joan of Arc burned, 143l. corporate advertisers restrict content. McCarthyism
American women can’t vote, 1789-1920. “Jim Crow,” 1865-1965
Nazis burn “subversive un-German books in 90 cities, May 10, 1933
1873-1957, American postal authorities censor mail under the “Comstock Law”

***** Heinrich Heine: “..where they burn books, thy will ultimately burn people also.”

Jew burnings, 12th – 16th centuries. HUAC “Un-American” purge, 1940s
1852 – “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” banned in Russia. Jesse Owens banned, 1936 –
American labor union activists persecuted, murdered, 1870s – l930s; harassed and fired, 1930s –
Servetus burned [heretical medical theories], 1553. Supreme Court “packing”
1939 – “The Grapes of Wrath” burned on East St. Louis courtyard steps

Censorship has been exercised by many groups: churches, government, corporations, activists.
Censorship has existed in many forms: murder, banning, sabotaging, story suppression, disinformation, threats, limiting what is discussed, criminalization, self-censorship.

THE object: CONTROL. Control of money, power, facts, narrative, people’s lives, inconvenient information, women, dissident groups, unpopular books, “heretics,” the law……..

***** George Orwell: “Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.”

1692 Salem witch scare. the “tobacco defense”. “gerrymandering” and “election fraud”
Jan Hus burned, 1415. Muhammed Ali loses boxing title. “don’t be the first to stop clapping”
Senator McCarthy gets all books world-wide in government libraries offensive to him burned, 1953

***** Lenin: “Truth is the most precious thing. That is why we should ration it.”

1829, Georgia, Virginia, Missouri anti-literacy laws deemed necessary “because an un-educated Black population made white citizens feel more secure against both abolitionists and slave uprisings.” [Missouri state website]
“Mother Jones,” September-October, 2021: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ bill signing text forbidding teaching racism was embedded in American society to uphold white supremacy “echoes an op-ed article published in the Richmond Enquirer in 1856”

Justice Potter Stewart: “Censorship reflects a society’s lack of confidence in itself. It is the hallmark of an authoritarian regime.” [“Ginzberg,” 1966]

Orchestrated. Campaign
– American corporations have waged a fierce, never-ending war against labor unions. The issue: control of workers and greed.
– the American “religious right” has waged a 50-year war on America. the issue: control of people’s lives by religious dogma and political power.
– the combined reactionary right forces have waged a 150-year war against the American legal system. The issues: CONTROL of ideas, people’s lives, power, GREED.
– the combined reactionary right have waged a 150-year war against the truth – which they MUST do in order to impose their will. The issues: control the narrative, TRUTH, power, GREED.
– the NUMBER ONE CENSORSHIP: voter suppression. Continuing the “stolen election” fraud, Republicans across America have passed numerous bills, in their words “to ensure election integrity.” The goal/result: to eliminate the “wrong voters” – people likely to vote against Republicans. Along with gerrymandering, pushed since 2010, allows Republicans to pick their own voters.

Attack Dogs
– I: the “conservative” media morons and internet idiots routinely savage ANY criticism of “conservative” [reactionary]words, actions, laws. These campaigns are designed to kill at birth any attempts to bring forth the truth.
– II: “conservative” media morons and internet idiots, other mouthpieces also routinely claim “anti-conservative” [reactionary] “BIAS.” As explained by Rich Bond, Republican Party chair [1992]: “There is some strategy to it [bashing the ‘liberal” media]…if you watch a great coach, what they do is ‘work the refs.'” Also by William Kristol. Republican neoconservative: “I admit it, the liberal media were never that powerful, and the whole thing was used as an excuse by conservatives for conservative failures.”
– III: self-censorship – the result of fear induced by attack dogs I and II; publishers, editors, writers avoided irritating corporate advertisers; didn’t tell stories, no matter how critical and truthful.
– IV: results of I, II, and III: hundreds/thousands of critical stories that DIDN’T GET TOLD: topics sensitive to the top 1%, corporations, “out of bounds,’ not raised, not discussed [tax evasion, monopoly power, job loss,etc….]
-V: legal wars. “Mother Jones,” January-February, 2022: “The Legal War Against Mother Jones”: a billionaires lawsuit because of an unfavorable report, “..lawsuits aren’t necessarily about winning [they won]. Some are just about inflicting as much pain as possible.” See also Soley’s “Censorship INC” pages 88 forward about SLAPP lawsuits [silencing].
– VI: still being played out is another form, the use of government power to silence/punish criticism, most recently in April, 2022. Florida’s governor [running for 2024 president] and the Republican-controlled legislature removed a provision giving Walt Disney World’s private government autonomy around Orlando. Reason: Disney World criticized a Republican law on teaching about sex in public schools.

School Censorship – the cost of not knowing???

– 1920s: United Daughters of the Confederacy demanded any book saying the South fought to keep slavery or said the slaveholders were cruel to be banned.
– 1996: Alabama school board members and Governor Robert James required an insert in biology textbooks: “Since no one was present when life first appeared on Earth..any statement about life’s origins should be considered as theory, not fact.”
– 2000s: Texas public school text: there were both cruel and kind slaveowners; many [slaves] may not have been terribly unhappy…for they knew no others [conditions]”
– 1/30/2019 Palm Beach Post: “The Florida Legislature is considering a bill that would give public school students alternative facts to so-called “controversial theories” of science such as evolution and climate change..pushed by the Florida Citizens Alliance, which thinks Florida’s kids..”indoctrinated in a public school system that undermines their individual rights and destroys our founding principles and family values.” [Frank Cerebino]
– 2020s: private Christian academies texts: God is the singular causation of history; America founded as a Christian nation; unequivocal praise for capitalism coupled with demonization of social charity [Jan., 2022 “Church & State”]
– 11/21/21 Washington Post Weekly: “Republicans have concluded..a manufactured moral panic over critical race theory and diversity can help them win elections..Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom, is worried about the long-term impact of this orchestrated national onslaught against books and libraries..”We get three to five reports every day..no one parent should be telling the community what everybody else should be reading.”

***** General/President D.D. Eisenhower: “Don’t join the book burners..don’t be afraid to go to your library and read every book.”

Corporate censorship – beyond the “tobacco defense”
– Soley: “..when government capitulates to private groups and commits speech-stifling acts, the acts described as “censorship.” When private entities commit the same acts, they are described as exercises in ‘property rights,’ ‘editorial control,’ or..’business policies.’..speech-stifling acts by private parties occur more frequently..are enforced daily, are deeply rooted, and go unnoticed..”
– for in-depth discussion: Lawrence Soley: “Censorship INC The Corporate Threat to Free Speech in the United States”; Alex Carey: “Taking the Risk Out of Democracy Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty”; Herbert Schiller: “Culture Inc. The Corporate Takeover of Public Expression”; Andy Roth, Mickey Huff, Project Censored”s series.

The Internet – more disinformation than “information” ???
– is the internet more destructive than constructive? [think very carefully]
– Maya MacGuineas: “Capitalism’s Addiction Problem” [The Atlantic; April, 2020]: “..the new powers in the digital age have built their business models on strategies – enabled and turbocharged by self-improving algorithems – that actively undermine the. principles that make capitalism a good deal for most people.”
– Jack Davies: “Can Democracy survive the Internet?” [Mpls Trib; 9/27/20]: “..one human weakness makes the internet…perhaps the greatest threat democracy has ever faced: our universal desire to see ratified our own opinions and biases..”confirmation bias”…we ignore sites that might give us reasons to question our assumptions..”
– and then there is this: the increase in mental health issues, especially in young people. People tempted to, and committing, suicide – because of social media. Some professionals have already labeled this a ‘crisis.”

“Free Speech”? – there used to be standards, rules, laws, customs, norms – and now?????
– is everything now “the Wild West”? Can I say anything, in the name of “free speech,” especially on the internet???
– is the 1791 idea of “free speech” and “free press”. now so out of date that what was once thought “positive” and “good’, now so destructive and negative it threatens a polite, respectful decency toward our fellow citizens?
– if I label myself not a “journalist” but an “entertainer’, can I throwout “red meat” and get away with it [ and perhaps “earn” a multi-multi million dollar yearly salary]?
– if seven people are beaten to death after a false viral message [May, 2018] – do we just blow this off [as an accidental cost] of our “right” to suggest/say/imply just about anything about anybody – without proof?
– can I now yell “fire” in a crowded theater and get away with it [it was just a prank, officer]?

It may, chronologically, be 2022 – but how far have we come from 12th century Jew burnings, the Spanish Inquisition, 19 innocents murdered in 1692 Salem, Galileo’s house arrest?

In the end, have “we’ just devised more sophisticated ways of Burning Books and Burning People?

But, then, some of us are afraid of our own children – that they may be “weaker” then we thought; they they may be more curious than we’d like; and worse of all – that they may reject us and our ideas.
SO – we demand that. NO. children will read a book we don’t like; that. NO. children will learn something we don’t want them to; that. NO. children will think for themselves; that we will deliberately try to teach. ALL. children demonstrable falsehoods.
AND – we firmly believe this will make our country “great again.”

***** Soren Kirkegaard: “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to
believe what is true.”