III. Destroying democracy for ordinary people – YOU! – Here we provide historical perspective. So YOU can realize how far WE, together, advanced to a true “democracy” – thus, YOU have historical evidence when the FAR RIGHT tries to take it away from YOU – as they have since 1980.
America only became a “democracy” post-1901. The “Progressive Era” was a popular revolt against the 1865-190l GREEDFEST of corruption of the top 1% and corporations [note: the Founders distrusted corporations, which is why they ARE NOT in the Constitution]. More reforms occurred 1933-1965. Virtually ALL post-1901 reforms have been attacked by the FAR Right – they do NOT like the freedoms and rights YOU gained.

1]. Brief historical perspective, 1619-1901. Conditions of life for average people. YOU want to go back to this?
A]. Jerry Fresia: “Toward An American Revolution”; 1650-1750, the rich got richer, the poor poorer. 1687 Boston: top 1% owned 25% of wealth; 1770 Boston, top 1% owned 44%. The rich enacted property qualifications to vote: 1750 Pennsylvania – 8% of rural and 2% of Philadelphia can vote.

B] Michael Parent: “Democracy for the Few”: in 12 of 13 states, only property-owning White males voted or held office. Excluded: all Native Americans, persons of African descent, women, indentured servants and White males without sufficient property. Property qualifications for holding office excluded most White males who could vote.
“..the common people..the great bulk of whom lived at a subsistence level. Most of the agrarian population consisted of poor freeholders, tenants, and indentured hands. Small farmers were burdened by heavy rents, ruinous taxes, and low income..economic prisoners crowded jails..”

C] “The Underside of American History,” Vol. 1, edited by Thomas Frazier: In the first 150 years of settlement, indentured servants were a major labor force. Another, more profitable labor force: African slavery.
In the colonial period, harsh penalties and traditional deference kept the poor “in their place.” After the Revolution, the poor took revolutionary ideology seriously [how impertinent of them!!!] – new methods of social control were enacted.
Post-1840, massive immigration of Irish and German Catholics led to much social conflict, especially in religion, jobs, hosing, and education; which “contributed to the rise of a nativist movement that stretched almost across a century.”
By the mid-19th century, the Industrial Revolution “had become so efficient..for the first time..there was a surplus of unskilled labor.” Factory owners stretched hours and cut wages; women and children had to go to work. “The struggle of the unskilled worker and urban factory operative..is one of the major motifs of 19th-20th century American life.” Workers only improved their lot by forming labor unions – fiercely resisted by the top 1%.
“..women were schooled only in the domestic arts and social graces..deprived of the right to vote, denied participation in politics and public life..expected to find fulfillment by living in the shadow of a successful male…Since many theories of male dominance were based on..traditional religion..many women felt it was in their interest to attack traditional religion.”

D]. “The Underside of American History,” Vol. 2, edited by Thomas Frazier: “..federal legislation in the decade after 1865 held out considerable promise for the future of democracy..federal concern for..civil rights of..freedmen soon gave way to growing public sentiment for ..conciliation of the South..National unity restored..at the cost of forcing freed Blacks back into positions of political and economic dependence.”
1875-1900, “The moral fiber of the nation appeared to disintegrate completely..The nation..embarked [into] unabashed materialism..”the Gilded Age…”Laissez faire” became the watchword..with disastrous results for..traditionally oppressed groups..freedmen, Indians, laborers, immigrants..cities..the land itself, which was heedlessly exploited.”
Social Darwinism supplied “scientific” reasoning for white supremacy..prejudice against ..Irish, Central and Southern Europeans, East Asians, all other groups not easily assimilated into the dominant White Protestant culture.
Protestantism and capital fought to maintain status quo. First “populism,” then “progressivism,” led demands for reforms. The goal was to break up political machines corrupting government; breaking up trusts controlling the economy and who “virtually owned the Senate.”
Anti-democratic forces” 1915 KKK revival, 1919 race riots, 1919-1920 “Red Scare.” “Prohibition” enacted for moralistic reasons. The 19th Amendment giving women the vote one of few reforms. The “Roaring Twenties” was a step back into huge economic inequality. Government favored big business; gains of labor virtually erased.
The result?: the 1930s “Great Depression” – which caused much, widespread, suffering.
World War II unity [offset by imprisoning 120,000 innocent Japanese-Americans] followed by great middle class golden age of 1947-1973. Blacks made slow gains of civil rights supposedly already theirs. “the decade of the 1960s was marked by the revolt of the victims of American history..”

The “Progressive Era” and the 1933-65 New Deal era CREATED mass democracy. Controls on top 1% and corporate greed; a progressive income tax; Social Security; recognition of labor rights; G.I. Bill; Medicare; civil rights for women and minorities. The peak of American middle class prosperity was achieved by governmental and court decisions [by a unique Supreme Court – one that actually supported ordinary people – like YOU!!!]. America actually began honoring the ideals of the Declaration and the Constitution’s Preamble

BUT – those 190l-1965 rights, the philosophy of the Founders -ALL under sustained FAR RIGHT attack – with, unfortunately, too much reactionary and cruel success>
WHO. gets to decide YOUR. “Pursuit of Happiness”??? The FAR RIGHT says THEY do; THEY have the “right” to dictate to YOU – because THEY are “moral” and wise – and YOU are not!!!!! Only THEY “know” what the Founders “reallY meant [ ignoring the DOCUMENTATION of what the Founders did say and create – another BIG LIE].
The result: cruelty, corruption, chaos. Compared to other “advanced’ nations, America regressed. The happiest people live in Scandinavia. Increasingly, Americans can’t afford “middle class’ life without credit card debt – guess WHO benefits fromYOUR usurious credit card penalties????!!!!????!!!!
As in other authoritarian regimes, reactionary American FAR RIGHT has used as cover for its cruelty and corruption the force of law [more on HIS in section 7 of this series]. The legal BIG LIE is the bogus “originalism” theory. this preposterous 20th century creation claims 2023 American life should be run on 1787 circumstances and thinking – even as the Founders explicitly said THEY didn’t support this fraud!!!

*** Benjamin Rush, Pennsylvania Convention, ll/30/1787: “Our rights are not yet all known, how then could they be properly enumerated?”

E]. “A Constitution of Our Own Making” [Caroline Fredrickson; Washington Monthly; Sept.-Oct., 2021]: “..the contemporary document is defined far more by its various amendments, enacted over the course of 200 years, than it is defined by what happened in 1787..the Constitution has been shaped by the millions of Americans who have voted for, organized for, and at times literally fought for change..[Constitutional Amendments] “have moved it almost entirely in one direction: left.”

*** “The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in the insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.” [Justice Brandeis]

The FAR RIGHT revolted against the American people in every sphere of public [and private]. life: politically, economically, religiously, socially. THEY want to control YOUR life!!!!! They often work in concert, often funded by similar “Dark Money” [Jane Mayer – read it!!!], often represented by similar law firms, most are now visible in one political party – claiming they are helping you, when they are really hurting YOU.

YOU dare learn the FACTUAL TRUTH? Begin with double Pulitzer Prize winners Barlett & Steele’s “The Betrayal of the American Dream” and Pulitzer Prize winner Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?” – both written in 2012. A review of Smith: “the ways the rich have been sticking it to the middle class since the late 1970s..”
For more facts, go to pre & post-1980 UNSPUN official iRS income and tax info. Mother Jones, March-April, 2011, article: YOU are getting ROBBED up to $10,000 EVERY year by the top 1%.

***”people of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” [Adam Smith, “The Wealth of Nations”]

F]. Kurt Andersen: “Evil Geniuses”: “..chronicles the quite deliberate reengineering of our economy and society..by a confederation of the rich, the right, and big business..the 1980s Reagan changes had a stealth quality..the 1980s were the 1930s in reverse..a time-release Raw Deal.”
The Reagan administration enacted 775/1000 Heritage Foundation wish list proposals. FAR RIGHT ideologues from Heritage, the American Enterprise Institution, Hoover Institute served in the R-W Reagan administration
******* MUST READ: pages 118-120: 20 Key Changes “good” for Big Business, Financial Industry, Rich. and – the 28 Key Changes that were “BAD” for Americans in general.

Summary of DAMAGE to America during Reagan administration in Andersen’s chapter titles: “The Rule of Law;” “Deregulation Generation;’ “The Culture of Greed is Good;” “How Wall Street Ate America;” “Workers of the New World, You Lose;” ‘Insecurity is a Feature, Not a Bug;” “Ruthless Beats Reasonable.”

***”Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty; power is ever stealing from the many to the few.” [Wendell Phillips]

G] Nicholas Lemann: “Transaction Man”: “..the last quarter of the 20th century..Once agin, as in early days of industrial capitalism, big winners were spectacularly rewarded, economic power..concentrated, inequality and risk arose..local institutions weakened..the old picture of a country that could offer a better life to each succeeding generation seemed not to apply any longer..
“Today the Transaction Man mentality..is..deeply rooted..When a challenge presents itself..any proposed solution..characterized as relying on bureaucracy, organizations, government agencies, or established interest groups is doomed..In the manner of someone who thinks the cure for a hangover is another drink, the country keeps reacting to troubles produced by the deterioration of its institutional life by embracing further deterioration.
“We want politics and government to be taken away from career professionals, charter schools to replace traditional public schools, higher education to take place online at home, journalism to be turned over to citizens…
“Deregulation produced the greatest concentration of financial power in American history, in 6 big companies. The advent of the supposedly power-distributing Internet produced the five big companies that now dominate technology..
“The economy we now have is not doing a good job of generating social trust, political calm, or widely shared prosperity. Instead, it has produced a series of terrifying economic shocks..”

***”Concentrations of power always wind up harming people, no matter how benign the holders of power believe themselves to be.” [Nicholas Lemann]

EVERY factual analysis acceptable world-wide as truth shows this: life for “average” Americans has grown less secure, more financially difficult since 1980. Health care more difficult to access and more expensive. Education underfunded and money diverted to private, usually fundamental religious schools. Divisive disinformation and BALD LIES rife – courtesy of Reagan deregulation. Income siphoned off to the top 1%>

NONE of this is “natural”. or. “accidental”. Nearly 100% of lost American freedoms, rights, wealth –
DELIBERATELY ORCHESTRATED. This DOCUMENTED, by among numerical proof – CONFESSION of some of
the GUILTY. FAR. RIGHT groups and people. who did the crimes

The slow upward 1620-1901 upward climb, and the 190l-1965 reforms. – ALL attempted to be reversed by DELIBERATE FAR RIGHT actions. Their. BIG. LIE. is what I just told YOU , and what is DOCUMENTED – is not true. – just like global climate crisis is not true [because THEY profit from it]

*** “Of all forms of tyranny the least attractive and most vulgar is the tyranny of mere wealth, the tyranny of plutocracy.” [Theodore Roosevelt]

II PLOTS AGAINST AMERICA. The January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Congress was NOT the first such plot. Given developing evidence, it, unfortunately, will likely NOT be the last.
It’s imperative that YOU think in terms of MULTIPLE plots by the radical, reactionary, FAR RIGHT. Since the 1980s there is an ON-GOING Far Right economic plot to totally subvert ANY and ALL restraints on corporate power. YOU can easily see visible elements: attacks on unions of ANY kind; moving jobs to non-union states and then anywhere in the world – including to totalitarian state that threaten America’s very existence; fierce “lobbying” and rhetoric against ANY and ALL regulations [that might safeguard health, lessen global warming, benefit their own workers, benefit customers]; fierce “lobbying” and rhetoric against ANY and ALL taxes.
The second plot, control of the American judicial system, has now [perhaps] reached near final success. Between Senator Mitch McConnell and willing other Senators, and the highly successful campaign orchestrated by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society network – the judicial system has been filled with as many reactionary “conservative” federal judges as McConnell could appoint. 6 Far Right “justices” sit on the “supreme court,” passing a FAR RIGHT wish list rewarding various elements in the FAR RIGHT coalition. The June, 2022, “supreme court” session illustrates the damage inflicted on America. Absurd, counter-factual decisions continue to be issued in federal courts to this very day.
The third plot is revealed by the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Congress. It was NOT the first, it just progressed further. The first plot is discussed in Jules Archer’s “The Plot to Seize The White House” – the July-November, 1933, plot to overthrow the U.S. government and “establish an American Fascist dictatorship.”
The fourth plot is that of the fundamentalist “Religious Right” to create an American theocracy. They’ve working, with great success, to undermine the First Amendment. With much help from recent “supreme courts,” they’ve succeeded in FORCING other Americans to pay tuition and other expenses at THEIR private schools, to repair church facilities, and worst of all, to FORCE other Americans to live by THEIR RELIGIOUS DOGMA – something the First Amendment, prior to 2000, absolutely forbid. See also 1776-1800 state constitutions for strict language prohibiting FORCED support.
The fifth plot is spreading DISINFORMATION, create “alternative facts,” rewrite American history and science, create new ABSURD legal “theories” out of thin air justifying all that they’ve done to sabotage America. They’ve created an alternative universe of propaganda media stations, think tanks, writers, influencing university and school curriculums. They’ve succeeded in dividing a confused American public, one made vulnerable by their own economic activities. One recent scandal involving a prominent TV station illustrates, partially, extreme they’re willing to resort.

***”At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if ever it reach us, it must spring up amongst us…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]

1] The July-November, 1933, “Plot to Seize The White House” was meant to install a fascist dictatorship. The head of their private army was to be retired Marine Major General Smedley Butler. Instead, Butler revealed the coup plot.
Details are in the McCormack-Dickstein Committee hearings, begun in New York City on November, 1934. “On February 15, 1935, the Committee submitted to the House of Representatives its final report, verifying completely ther testimony of General Butler.”
Author Jules Archer: “There is strong evidence to suggest that the conspirators may have been too important politically, socially, and economically to be brought to justice after their scheme had been exposed..The largely anti-Roosevelt press of the New Deal era scotched the story as expeditiously as possible by outright suppression, distortion and attempts to ridicule General Butler’s testimony as capricious fantasy.” Butler later NAMED NAMES – people and organizations. The gold standard was involved. One man told Butler he had $3 million in working capital, could access $300 million “if it were needed>” [1934 dollars] The American Liberty League is mentioned, as are contributors [page 31].
Roosevelt and his ‘New Deal’ were “damned as socialist or communist..” Archer: “In the eyes of America’s industrialists and bankers, the President, if not an actual secret Communist, was dedicated to destroying the nation’s capitalist economy by the New Deal, which they labeled as “creeping socialism.”” They envisioned FDR turning the USA into another Soviet Russia.
Archer: “Some business leaders envied their counterparts in Italy, who had financed Mussolini’s rise to power. Il Duce’s efficiency in “making the trains run on time” was highly lauded, along with the dictatorial control of labor unions by his corporate state.”

*** “People may start out with an initial prejudice against tyrants, but when tyrants or would-be tyrants treat them to adrenaline-releasing propaganda about the wickedness of their enemies – particularly of enemies weak enough to be persecuted – they are ready to follow [the tyrants] with enthusiasm.” [Aldous Huxley]

2] “U. S. military chiefs assert American values – and a warning” [Martin Schram; Tribune News Service; 9/11/22]: “Eight former defense secretaries and five former chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff issued an open letter to the nation Tuesday..these former military leaders..warned us: “Politically, military professionals confront an extremely adverse environment characterized by the divisiveness of affective polarization that culminated in the first election in over a century when a peaceful transition of political power was disputed and in doubt. Lookin ahead, all of these factors could well get worse before they get better.”
[Former Defense Secretary Leon} Panetta said he believes this is America’s fork-in-the-road moment. “I honestly believe that America can be an America in renaissance in the 21st century..But..if we allow our fears, hates, frustrations to divide us – and turn against one one another – I think there’s a very good chance that we can follow the paths of past empires. And we can lose our democracy.”

*** “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; When he first appears, he is a protector.” [Plato]

3]. POLITICAL VIOLENCE.
– “Guns Everywhere Mean Democracy Nowhere” [Jamelle Bouie; New York Times; 1/15/23]: “..democracy rests on a measure of trust and respect among citizens..Guns, when carried as totems through public space, make this impossible..”
– “Will guns become a tool of political intimidation?” [Paul Waldman; Washington Post Weekly; 11/28/21]: “Carrying guns openly is, perhaps more than anything else, a kind of speech. It’s meant to communicate a clear message: I may decide to kill you. The intimidation is the point.”
– “Menace As Political Tool” [Lisa Lerer & Astead Herdon; New York Times; 11/19/21]: “When you start dehumanizing political opponents, or really anybody, it becomes a lot easier to inflict violence on them..”
– “Political Violence Is threatening Our Democracy” [New York Times editorial; 11/6/22]: “..the threat of violence has begun to have a corrosive effect on many aspects of public life: the hounding of election workers until they are forced into hiding; harassment of school board officials; threats to judges; armed demonstrators at multiple state houses..assaults on flight attendants..armed intimidation of librarians over books and the ideas they choose to share.”

*** “The most popular man under democracy is not the most democratic man, but the most despotic man. The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural gait is the goose step.”
[H.L. Mencken]

4] The most frightening piece I’ve read in years: “ANARCHY’
– “The New Anarchy” [Adrienne LaFrance; The Atlantic; April, 2023]: “We face a new phase of domestic terror; one characterized by radicalized individuals with shape-shifting ideologies willing to kill their political enemies..
“The conditions that make a society vulnerable to political violence are complex but well established: highly visible wealth disparity, declining trust in democratic institutions, a perceived sense of victimhood, intense partisan estrangement based on identity, rapid demographic change, flourishing conspiracy theories, violent and dehumanizing rhetoric against the “other,” a sharply divided electorate, and a belief among those who flirt with violence that they can get away with it.
“The path out of bloodshed is measured not in years but in generations,: Rachel Kleinfeld writes in “A Savage Order,” her 2018 study of extreme violence, it is always more vulnerable to ore backsliding.” Cultural patterns, once set, are durable. [witness the violence of one U.S. geographic region]
“Three realities mark the current era of political violence in America as different from what has come before, and making dealing with it much harder.. the universal access to weaponry, including military grade weapons….today’s information environment….people refusing to accept the outcome of elections.”

***”Nothing stands between the people’s miserable present and its glorious future, except a minority, perhaps a majority, of perverse or merely ignorant individuals. All that is necessary is to liquidate a few thousands, or maybe a few millions, of these living obstacles to progress, and then †o coerce and propagandize the rest into acquiescence. When these unpleasant but necessary preliminaries are over, the golden age will begin.” [Aldous Huxley]

The above is but a partial examination of this post’s main thesis, DOCUMENTED by historical and current near-daily FAR RIGHT actions and rhetoric.Today’s paper alone carries several stories: two shootings,, a reactionary judge’s edict throwing medical care into chaos, a “Right wing rally further inflames” piece, a bogus right-wing “hearing,” legislators being reinstated after eviction, a politician under indictment trying to eliminate testimony of his anti-democratic activities from being heard, secret perks for a “conservative” judge “undermine trust” in a court. This on ONE day!!!

AGAIN. – do YOUR own research – for the entire 1945-2023 period. WHO. are the individuals and groups, the hidden money & power, involved in anti-democratic activities and rhetoric, again and again??? Which political faction, backed by hidden wealth of rich people and corporations is behind consistent attacks to curtail government power to control their greed? WHO wants to restrict government power to reverse global warming??? Who has reversed the 1947-73 golden middle class golden age????? Who backed the two major plots against the U.S. political system??? WHO attacks efforts by ordinary people???? WHICH religions are attempting to create a theocracy????????

***. “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]
BUT – exactly. WHO are the “authors and finishers”. of America’s suicide???????? WHO since 1945, has made every effort to sabotage what the Founders. said and did, the rights they deliberately created??? WHO. has tried to sabotage the modern, post-1901, democracy. created by the American public’s DEMANDS?????
None other than elements of the FAR. RIGHT. o

Why can we say such a thing? Start with an average 53 American children being shot EVERY day. What “civilized” nation allows that??? Poverty, hunger, homelessness – of children. What “advanced” nation allows this??? A children’s mental health crisis. What “rich” nation allows this??? Tobacco being deliberately marketed to young people. What “caring” nation allows corporations to market death to its children??? Children being deliberately addicted to social media, for hours a day. What “moral” nation allows this addiction to continue – when it KNOWS this is occurring??? Government spending on older adults plus other budget items FAR exceeds that spent on its future – its children. What “rational” nation allows its own future to be short changed??? Occupations that primarily care for and educate children have long been under paid. What message does a society send when those who care for and educate its future adults are under paid???

*** “Don’t tell me what your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.” [James W. Frick]

1]. Gun Violence – and Individual and Community Trauma
– “A Generation Torn by Trauma..School shooting survivors can’t escape echoes of the gunfire” [John Woodrow Cox; Wash. Post; 5/29/22]: “..hundreds of thousands of children’s lives have been profoundly changed by school shootings..children who suffer no physical wounds at all, but are still haunted for years..The nightmares..”
– “After witnessing a parent’s death, a life of trauma” [John W. Cox; Wash. Post Weekly; 8/28/22]: “..thinks about the man she watched shoot her father..feared for years that he would find her family again..made her so paranoid..”

*** “So long as little children are allowed to suffer, there is no true love in the world.” [Isadora Duncan]

2] “Why does America hate its children?” [Paul Krugman; New York Times; 1/20/20]: “..the grim exceptionalism of America’s child-oriented policies, which are Dickensian compared with those of every other advanced country..every advanced country mandates some form of paid leave for new mothers..except the United States..”

*** “A youth is to be regarded with respect.” [Confucius].

3] Addicting Children to Social Media – and Depression, Hospitalization, Suicide
– “Curb kid’s tech addiction, investors tell Apple” [Assoc.Press; 1/9/17]: “Two major Apple investors have urged the iPhone maker to help curb smartphone addiction among children..letter cited various studies on negative effects of smartphones and social media on children’s mental and physical health..”
– “Suicide spike in girls raises concerns over social media” {Cynthia Koons; Bloomberg News; 5/18/19]: “The fact..social media has become the primary forum for interpersonal engagement in adolescence.. Increasing rates of suicide may be the ‘canary in the coal mine’..”
– “Seattle schools sue social media” [Gene Johnson; Assoc Press; 1/9/23]: “..complaint says the social media companies have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children..Internal studies revealed..in 2021 showed the company knew that Instagram negatively affected teenagers..”

*** “No social problem is as universal as the oppression of the child.” [Maria Montessori]

4] DELIBERATELY Under Funding Education – Damage Done To Children, America
– “The uneducated American” [Paul Krugman; New York Times; 10/12/09]: “America, which used to take the lead in educating its young, had been gradually falling behind other advanced countries..education is on the chopping block..laid-off teachers are only part of the story. Even more important is the way that we’re shutting off opportunities.”
– “The Cost Of Education Funding Cuts”. [NEA Today; 2018]: “..mice in their classrooms, they have to buy their own glue traps..antiquated plumbing that regularly floods a..hallway…some schools restrict..use of air conditioners…a teacher who sells his blood..teachers who work into the night as Uber drivers..[17 states divert $1 billion to private schools]

*** “The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to preserve us as a free nation; therefore, the state or the nation, or both combined, should support the free institutions of a good common school education.”
1888 Republican Party national platform plank]

5]. Respecting Children By Telling Them The TRUTH
– There are political campaigns built around “protecting” children from “divisive” topics: the Holocaust; slavery, Civil War causes, segregation, racism; American Indians; women; Asian-Americans. Some states passing laws making it illegal to go “too far” on other things – like anything to do with [SEX!!!] and sexuality, most especially gays and trans youth.
The central lessons of WW II: the Holocaust, dangers of fascism [now occurring in the U.S.A.], dangers of “America First” isolationism [now occurring in the U.S.A.]. From 1619 forward, the South defended racial slavery and segregation. It’s DOCUMENTED southern states refused to join a “United States” unless slavery was protected – several Constitutional provisions haunt us to this day. From 1492 forward, GENOCIDE against “Indians” was conducted in North and South America. Asian-Americans were imported as labor to build railroads – then laws restricted their immigration. Women were second class citizens without political power, 1789-1920; subject to discrimination, quotas in schools, the “glass ceiling,” 1920 – .

*** “History is the torch that is meant to illustrate the past, to guard against the repetition of our mistakes of other days. We cannot join in rewriting of history to make it conform to our comfort and convenience.” [Claude Bowers]

“School Shouldn’t Be A Battlefield” [George Packer; The Atlantic; April, 2022]: “Public education is meant not to mirror the unexamined values of a particular family or community, but to expose children to ways that other people, some of them long daed, think..A functioning democracy needs citizens who know how to make decisions together.”

*** “It’s not so much what folks don’t know that causes problems, it’s what they do know that ain’t so.” [Artemus Ward]

“In Schools, Talk about Racism Can Reduce Bias” [Camilla M. Griffiths & Nicky Sullivan; Scientific American; Nov.,2022]:”In Iowa..a law prohibits any teaching that suggests the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist or sexist”..also specifies that teachers must ensure that no student feels “discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual’s race or sex.”..[this seems to be] protective of children. But the effect is quite the opposite.”

*** “There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth, not going all the way, and not starting.” [Buddha]

Perhaps with refusing to allow our children to hear and discuss truth – it isn’t so much hating children, in this case, but – that America FEARS. it’s own children. the fear if they hear the truth, adults will lose control over them; the fear children knowing truth will disown parents; the fear knowing truth children will [GASP] want to change America to reflect truth [how absolutely UNPATRIOTIC of them!!!]

*** “The true test of civilization is not the census, nor the size of cities, nor the crops – no, but the kind of man the country turns out.” [Ralph Waldo Emerson]

6] Homeless and Hungry in America. – Children
– “New report says U.S. child homelessness at all-time high” [David Crary & Lisa Leff; Assoc.Press; 11/17/14]: “..the report issued Monday by the National Center on Family Homelessness calculates that nearly 2.5 million American children were homeless at some point in 2013..”
– “A quarter of children being raised by grandparents face hunger” [Michelle Singletary; Wash. Post; 11/21/22]: “In 2021, about 34 million people lived in food-insecure households..”
– “It’s the law: Free school meals for all” [Eder Campuzano; Star Tribune; 3/18/23]: “Minnesota becomes the third state to require no-cost breakfast and lunch for all students..”
– “Lost In Ohio” [Samantha Shapiro; New York times Magazine; 10/2/22]: “Fo homeless kids in rural America, staying in school can seem next to impossible – but often it’s their only source of help…failing to graduate from high school is the single greatest risk factor for future homelessness.”

*** “The children who go to bed hungry in a Harlem slum or a West Virginia mining town are not being deprived because no food can be found ..; they are going to bed hungry because ..we have not yet found a way to make the necessities of life available to all of our citizens – including those whose failure is ..only an unwise choice of parents.” [ senator J. William Fulbright]

7] Book Burnings – And – Beyond
-“Why book bans and voter suppression go hand in hand” [Kimberle W. Crenshaw; L.A. Times; 11/13/22]: “..between July, 2021 and June, 2022, nearly 1,700 book titles have been banned..The magnitude of this assault on our children’s right to learn cannot be overstated..When honest discussions and examination of racism are made unspeakable, then a truly inclusive democracy in unattainable.”
– “Bible Among Books Withheld From Schools” [Amanda Holpuch; New York Times; 8/19/22]: “..It is virtually impossible to run a school or a library that purges books in response to any complaint from any corner ..”
– “The old censorship argument has a new goal” [David Levithan; Wash. Post Weekly; 10/2/22]: “..the attacks are less about the books. We’re targets in a much larger proxy war with the goal of eviscerating the country’s public education system.”
– GOP pushes curriculum transparency across U.S.” [Julie C. Smith & Casey Smith; Assoc. Press; 2/13/22]: “Tissot [Cincy Mom] also supports policing teachers’ behavior more closely, including requiring them to wear body cameras..the legislation gives local parent committees with no expertise power over which curriculum teachers use, and parents could file complaints and lawsuits if they believe teachers have violated a ban on certain “divisive concepts.”

*** “Don’t join the book burners. Do not think you are going to conceal thoughts by concealing evidence that they ever existed.” [President Dwight D. Eisenhower]

8] Erasing Sub Humans
– “Trans People Testifying To Legislatures Facer Disrespect’ [Andrew Demillo; Assoc Press; 2/28/23]: “The idea of protecting children by withholding medical care is undermined by health experts, who have said minors with gender dysphoria who do not receive appropriate care face dramatically increased risk of suicide and serious depression.”
– “No Dignity In this Kind OfAmerica” [Jamelle Bouie; New York Times]: “To deny equal respect and dignity to any part of the citizenry is to place the entire country on the road to tiered citizenship and limited rights, to liberty for some and hierarchy for the rest..There is no world in which their freedom is suppressed and yours is sustained.”
– “GOP pushing anti-LGBTQ bills at record pace” [Kelsey Butler; Bloomberg News; 4/10/22]: “It”s not just about health care. It’s not just about bathrooms or curriculum or any of the other areas where these transgender youth are being targeted. It is about a well-coordinated national political campaign to write them out of existence.”

*** “It is easy to substitute our will for that of the child by means of suggestion or coercion; but when w have done this we have robbed him of his greatest right, the right to construct his own personality.” [Maria Montessori]

9] So – DOES America Hate Children?
– What are the basic needs of ANY human being, birth to death? Health care, food, housing, clothing, education. safety and protection, treated with respect and dignity at a MINIMUM. Has America provided all of this, in required quantities for its children? NO. Have other similar nations provided for these needs? YES. America’s DOCUMENTED failure to nurture its own children, as others do is THE reason we can say: “America Hates Children”

*** “Society is indeed a contract…It is a partnership in all science; a partnership in all art; a partnership in every virtue, and in all perfection. As the ends of such partnership cannot be obtained except in many generations, it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born.” [Edmund Burke]

The failure to nurture its own children means America has broken Burke’s sacred contract. America has broken the partnership with generations 175-2023. America has broken the partnership with generations 2023 forward.
If one sees Americans as part of a society, part of a large family, then the American family has failed in its most basic duty: to nurture and protect its children. this is a betrayal of cosmic proportions. By rights, America should be taken to court, and prosecuted for child neglect.

*** “The security and elevation of the family and of family life are the prime objects of civilization, and the ultimate ends of all industry.” [Charles W. Eliot]

It gets worse. Not only neglect – but actual hostility, cruelty, and persecution. – of CHILDREN. Biological science says 3 to 10% of humans are “gay.” They have no choice. They are born this way. Some are tall, some shirt. Some have blue eyes, some brown. Some have tried to resist [even getting married to opposite sex]. Some committed suicide.
CHILDREN – coming to “adults” for help – denied, and worse.

*** “The most effective way to silence our guilty conscience is convince ourselves and others that those we have sinned against are indeed depraved creatures, deserving every punishment, even extermination. We cannot pity those we have wronged, nor can we be indifferent toward them. We must hate and persecute them or else leave the door open to self-contempt.” [Eric Hoffer]

A country that loves its own children does NOT make life more difficult for them. It does NOT allow children to become victims of addictions. It does NOT allow them to be exploited. It does NOT allow thousands to be hungry and homeless.
BUT. – a country that DOES. hate its children just might see thousands of them now being treated and hospitalized for mental health crises.

*** “I’m not sure how many “sins” I would recognize in the world..But I can imagine none that is more irredeemably sinful than the betrayal, the exploitation, of the young by those who should care for them.” [Elizabeth Janeway}o

We are almost all gone now. By our 50th grad reunion, nearly 25% were gone. We were born between the late 1930s and the late 1940s. Our parents, their friends, our neighbors, our teachers, our bosses – were almost all “Greatest Generation” members. THAT was our first stroke of luck. The second was growing up during the 1947-1973 great middle class prosperity era. We graduated high school in the 1950s-1960s – were often married, buying homes, having children before the “Age of Innocence” ended – our third stroke of luck.

Early TV “performers” were often former radio people – which meant they looked like normal people. Ed Murrow switched from London bombings to interview shows. Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley told us the news. Cronkite’s eyes watered on air on 11/22/63.
Featured kid’s shows were “Crusader Rabbit” and “Howdy Doody>”. “Father Knows Best,” “Ozzie and Harriet,” and “Leave It To Beaver” joined “Westerns.” Early “Rock ‘n Roll” had Elvis and Chuck Berry – it was mostly about innocent things like teen love and happiness. Minnie Pearl was on air. Movies featured people like Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. Westerns had big John Wayne. Drive-In movies were a big staple – rumor had it a few kids were conceived in their parking lots.

Baseball was far and away THE #1 team sport. Cobb and Wagner replaced by Ruth and Gehrig, replaced by Greenberg, Feller, DiMaggio and Williams, later Musial, Spahn, Robinson, Berra, Campy, Mantle, Mays, and Aaron. Unlike future pros. Feller and Spahn in WW II, and Williams in Korea – were actually in combat. Hearing of Pearl Harbor, Greenberg re-enlisted.
1920s era sports stadiums predominated, especially for college football. Many were called “Memorial” in honor of WW I soldiers. NFL games were played in baseball stadiums. There were “box seats” but no “private boxes.” The famous 1957 NFL championship game was played in Yankee Stadium, often called the game that “made” the NFL.

Pro hockey was played in 6 Canadian and northern American cities. The NBA was largely a minor sport, some teams having multiple “home” arenas. Pro basketball at one time had the NBL, the ABL, and the BAA. Home games were played in Sheboygan, Oshkosh, Fort Wayne, Providence, Anderson, and Syracuse. At one time, Chicago had two pro teams: Stags and Gears.


All this was before high school and college sports were professionalized. Alumni ego and money [naturally – what else in America???] did that. At one time, the “Big Ten” actually had 10 teams, all in the upper Midwest; the SEC was only in the old South; the Pac 8 was only on the Pacific coast. Before pro sports expanded, local high school and college players were the heroes young kids aspired to be – part of the “Age of Innocence”. – which we, in our innocence, thought was “normal,” not the fleeting thing it turned out to be>

Then. – things began to change.

The “Age of Innocence” ended during the “Decade of Shocks” [Shachtman]. Assassinations: Medgar Evers, JFK, Malcolm X, Martin, Bobby. Then Vietnam [based much on the “Domino Theory” and ignorance of Vietnam]. Then – 1965-66-67-68. Then, in May, 1970 – Kent State and Jacksonville State. Then Watergate.
There were brief bursts of innocence: “the summer of love;” Woodstock [“An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music”], a concert for 400,000 held on an upstate New York dairy farm; hippies; communes. Eventually the Beatles broke up.

But – this “Age of Innocence” was flawed. Not all people were treated equally – especially African-Americans, who had to fight to access rights guaranteed by the l3th-14th-15th Amendments. Women were second class citizens. Feminism considered by some a “deep illness,’ electric shock for neurotic behavior and seeking abortions {Coontz}, the sexual double standard and glass ceilings. Poverty rates increased. Conservative religious values imposed. Indians were shuttled off to “reservations” [never mind broken treaties]. Mexicans were supposed to be happy picking our fruits and vegetables.

Then – the empire struck back.

First attacks on labor: hostility to unions and moving jobs south to non-union states, then anywhere, including democracy’s #1 enemy, China. Corporate “lobbying” [legal machinations] escalated, its goals: reduced taxes [achieved], eliminate regulations [much achieved], eliminate living wage jobs [largely achieved]. The top 1% and corporations now have THE. #1. “business-friendly” Supreme “court” handing them major victories [“Citizens United,” “Janus,” “EPA-W.VA,” mandatory arbitration, etc.}

For perspective and reference: “The Betrayal of the American Dream” [Barlett & Steele] and “Who Stole the American Dream?” [Hedrick Smith] – from a Bloomberg book review: “..all the ways the rich have been sticking it to the middle class since the late 1970s read like a Times investigative report from hell.”
David Cay Johnston’s “Perfectly Legal..The Covert Campaign to Rig Our Tax System to Benefit the Super Rich – And Cheat Everybody Else” and. “Free Lunch..How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense [ And Stick You With The Bill]” Mother Jones, May-June, 2022: “Looted.. How Private Equity is stripping America for parts”. is the tip of the iceberg on how various legal pirate firms are looting America, piece by piece, affecting YOUR food, YOUR housing, YOUR medical care.

Then – the. “culture war.”

The top 1% and corporations couldn’t get what they wanted without people voting for the “right” politicians. The “religious right” declared war on America in the middle 1970s. Read Chris Hedges”. “American Fascists..the Christian Right And The War on America” or Katherine Stewart’s. “The Power Worshippers..Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalists.” Each side – the rich and the “religious” – get what they want: a plutocratic theocracy.

Don’t just believe this! Do your own [serious] research! Start with pre & post-1980 income tables and tax tables – UNPUN!!!!! – from the IRS official figures. Mother Jones, March-April, 2011, has an interesting story on this, including a table on “How much income have you given up for the top 1 percent?” Be sure to read “Plutonomics” on same page!!!

Those of us in the “Luckiest Generation” have not escaped this deliberate, planned. CORRUPTION, we just had that head start, so we were economically more secure when all the post-1980 damage began to occur.
Think of this as an indicator of how much things have changed: many in our generation paid for 4-year college educations by working at a grocery store, weekends and summer.
Some/many of us had retired when the Wall street-inspired 2008 crash occurred, so we escaped much of that corruption [but not the increased taxes for the crook’s bailouts.
And – when COVID hit, most of us did not have to go to work.

***** All this is NOT said in somer form of bragging. The motive”. for YOU. to place what has happened in the last 40 years in perspective. For YOU. to realize that once – 1947-1973 – America achieved, for the great bulk of the middle class – the real “American Dream.”
For YOU to understand that – all we enjoyed. – HAS. BEEN STOLEN. from subsequent generations. STOLEN. by people who are in most cases, already. OBSCENELY. RICH, but are so GREEDY. they want it all. As that 2011 Mother Jones article shows YOU – some were making, on average $27,342,212 EVERY YEAR. In 2023, they’ll be making even more.

*****”The society that loses its grip on the past is in danger, for it produces men who know nothing but the present, and who are not aware that life had been, and could be, different from what it is.” [Aristotle]

Things will NOT get better unless YOU do something!!! YOU and everybody YOU know need to tell politicians who refuse to vote higher taxes on millionaires/billionaires that YOU will not vote for them until they do; to tell them that the Social Security and Medicare “crises” can be solved by one simple thing: remove the stupid, ARTIFICIAL cap on income taxed for Social Security and Medicare. – so 100% of it is taxed [not just the first $160,000 that YOU pay]. – and YOU won’t vote for them until they do.

The 1947-1973 golden middle class age was NOT given to them. It was the result of people DEMANDING it, and only voting for politicians who promised to do it. YOU will have to do the same thing – and. NOT. get sidelined by other issues, most especially the “culture war” issues – because that allows the politicians working for the top 1% to escape. YOUR living standard has gone done because Americans fell into that trap. THE #1. factor behind the destruction of the 1947-73 golden age was: voters got stuck in voting on issues other than economics issues.
Go back to those pre and post-1980 income and tax tables: THAT is where the truth lies. It happened because rich and powerful people WANTED it to happen – and greased the skids with “campaign contributions” [legally laundered money].

*** “We can either have democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentration in the hands of a few. But we can’t have both.” [Justice Brandeis]

This post is an outline of the threat. The broad topic: the DOCUMENTED threat to American democracy and society by elements of the Far Right. What happened, is happening, wasn’t “natural.” It was, is ORCHESTRATED by the combined money and resources of Far Right groups.

Some will automatically dismiss this as “liberal propaganda.” WRONG!!! This series will explore DOCUMENTED events and rhetoric by elements of the Far Right. In future posts, these Far Right people will often be identified by “R W s.”

A major part of the r W campaign has been to instill FEAR – through conspiracy theories, blatant FALSEHOODS, insisting 2plus 2 equals 5, twisting real facts.
Sadly, it is elements of the Far Right that have produced the suffering by the lower 90% that other Far Right elements use to “prove” their LIES. The first, greatest, LIE is that they’re “conservatives.” In reality, they’re reactionaries and authoritarians, some are fascists.

Topics pursued:
1] The January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and Congress was NOT THE FIRST SUCH PLOT. The first was the July-November, 1933 R W plot. Details revealed in McCormack-Dickstein Committee hearings begun in November, 1934; final report February 15, 1935. The hero was retired Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler.

2] America truly became a “democracy” post 1901. The “Progressive Era,” itself a popular revolt against the 1865-1900 corruption by R W elements, began reforms. The reforms of 1933-1965 completed much of that first effort. Many of those reforms have been attacked by R W elements ever since.

3]. AIDING THE NAZIS. “American” businesses aided the Nazis from their beginnings, during, and past /world War II. DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE. Domestic groups opposed “getting involved” against fascist aggressions of the 1930s-1940s right up to Noon, Sunday, December 7, 1941.

4] Far Right elements used U.S. government power to investigate, persecute, prosecute INNOCENT American citizens “suspected” of being “communists” and “communist dupes” in the 1940s and 1950s. Lives and careers were ruined for political gain.

5] WEAPONIZING RELIGION. From the 1930s through 2023, R W elements have WEAPONIZED RELIGION. R W elements confessed they see, ARE conducting a “religious war” against the rest of America. One political party has largely been taken over by R W zealots, insisting THEIR religious dogma be made law, an absolute and total VIOLATION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT.

6]. CORRUPTION OF THE SUREME COURT AND THE LAW. Since 1969, the Republican Party has made a DOCUMENTED goal of weaponizing the Supreme court to undo ALL post-1901 reforms they don’t like. The “court,’ especially post-2005, issued numerous decisions VIOLATING basic American principles and Constitution – virtually all servicing various R W constituencies of the Republican Party.

7]. Corporate “America” has revolted against the 1947-1973 middle class STATISTICAL golden age. Sharing America’s wealth with the lower 90% “too good a deal” for “undeserving” ordinary Americans. Ceos and other corporate/financial “geniuses” believed they “earned their wealth all by themselves,” owed nothing to America. They declared war on labor and consumers. They outsourced jobs and knowledge anywhere to avoid wages, taxes, regulations, even to a dictatorship that is America’s and the world’s #1 threat: China.

8] CRIMINAL PRESIDENCIES. Nixon, Reagan, Bush II, Trump presidencies are among THE MOST CRIMINAL in American history. DOCUMENTED by criminal indictments, guilty verdicts, prison sentences. DOCUMENTED by damage inflicted on American people, society, economy, government, law. Do the research!!!

9]. DISINFORMATION. The latest “Fox News” scandal is just one more, should convince reasonable Americans what studies have shown for 20 years: “Fox News” is a propaganda operation. Big heroes on the Far Right DOCUMENTED having told major lies – “throwing red meat” to willing listeners – and making $5-l0-30 million annually. America is “divided” because R W forces want that, make money on that, achieve goals on that. R Ws NEED “enemies.”

10]. ALTERNATIVE UNIVERSE. R-Ws have built an alternative universe of their own schools and colleges, media, industry, law, churches, even communities. Convinced they are being unjustly “persecuted” for their faith and beliefs, they have walled themselves off psychologically and physically.

11]. CORRUPTION OF THE TAX CODE. R-W elements have succeeded corrupting American taxes at both state and federal levels. The “business” community writes, finances, owns tax codes. It’s a MAJOR factor in post-1973 impoverishment of the lower 90%. Taxes on millionaires and corporations radically cut. DOCUMENTED evidence in pre-1979 and post-1979 tax codes, tax burdens, tax avoidance.

12]. FALSE HISTORY. R-W elements are rewriting American history so it “proves” what they want YOU to think and believe; so YOU’LL support their perverted version of 1600-2023 events. Some specialize in writing bogus “history” books. Others make careers lying about what Founding Generations thought, said, wrote, put into state and federal constitutions. They want to control the past so they can control YOUR future.

13] SABOTAGING CONGRESS AND GOVERNMENT. Congress once worked on a bipartisan basis. From 1994 election forward, beginning with the “Gingrich Revolution,” R-W elements steadily sabotaged Congress so it can’t work. Congressional budgets and staff slashed – making Congress dependent on outside sources. Observe yourself Republican comic book characters in the last 30 years!!!

14]. NATIONAL DEBT. When Reagan took office in 1981, the U.S. national debt for 1789-1980 was LESS THAN $1 TRILLION. He tripled i; Bush II added several trillions; Trump’s 2017 tax cut was passed KNOWING IT WOULD ADD TO DEBT. Democrats added debt – cleaning up inherited Republican messes. CBO projections: 2023 debt interest – $640 billion; 2023-2033 debt interest about $10.5 trillion – money wasted, YOUR taxes increased.

15]. SOCIAL SECURITY and MEDICARE. Nothing better illustrates CRUELTY and CORRUPTION of the Far Right than their attacks on, demonization of, attempts to “privatize” Social Security and Medicare, efforts to switch the narrative from TRUE cause and solution: refusal of rich to share wealth with “undeserving” lower 90% – to a manufactured “crisis”; insisting that ONLY cuts in Social Security and Medicare benefits are required. Known for 40 years: the obvious and simple solution: remove the “cap” on earnings taxed for Social Security and Medicare.

In doing YOUR own research, you’ll soon discover R-W patterns” cruelty, corruption, arrogance, condescension, even hatred – for those not like them. The rich insisting they earned wealth “all by themselves,” owe nothing to YOU. Corporations insist on “market based solutions,” demanding government “get out of the way” – no matter the cost. “Religious Right” zealots insist THEY ALONE know “truth;” insist they be allowed special privileged status because of their faith. R-W legal activists insist America return to 1789 for ALL understandings of the Constitution, as if nothing happened since 1789; THEY ALONE “know” the Founders’ “original intent”!!! R-W “echo chamber” of “news” and “information” insists THEY ALONE tell Americans what is and has happened. They’ve produced a BIG LIE machine the Nazis would envy, supplying the LIES dividing America.

All of this, and much, much, more – why the Far Right is a THREAT TO AMERICA in every conceivable way. The saddest part: they’ve convinced so many good Americans their massive LIES and sabotage of government are correct.

As always – do YOUR own research [OK to begin on the I-net; use documents not doctored]. Realize that people, especially Founders said different things at different times – CONTEXT matters. What is the overall PATTERN ? How are basic American principles from the Declaration and Constitution, Amendments discussed?

then you’ll get to where I am. I didn’t grow up “hating” the Far Right. I learned about what they’d, we’re doing – how it compared to American principles, words of Lincoln and Dr. King, what life was like in 1947-73, how it compared to common decency and caring for others. THE DOCUMENTED EVIDENCE – in so many ways: the Far Right is. THE group that “hates” America. The Far Right wants to build its own version of “America” – one the American public votes against, says in poll after poll it doesn’t want.

The Far Right doesn’t care about YOU. They’re on a “sacred mission” to “correct our sins and save America>”. If they can’t “reason” [lie] with you – then force will be necessary. Some of that force illustrated by Roberts “court” decisions; some by corporations” treatment of workers, taxpayers, customers; by armed men marching to intimidate opponents; by murders and blowing up buildings; by January 6, 2021.
For people on a ‘sacred mission” – the End justifies ANY means.

I entered her presence when we both worked at a grocery store. She was tall for a girl, model’s face and figure; with a delightful manner and voice. She was a beautiful person inside and out. She always seemed to “be up.” I never saw her angry, even when a certain aggressive stock boy had her pinned against the wall in the back of the store – she laughed at him. She went to a private girl’s school. One of her friends from that school worked with her at the store.

It was in the middle of the great middle class prosperity of 1947-1973. It was also in the last days of American innocence. Before JFK was shot. Before Vietnam. Before street riots. Before Watergate.
The fabled 1950s-1960s teen culture was in full force. Rock-n-roll was the music. The King and Chuck Berry were alive and singing. Some of us were active participants; others were witnesses. “West Side Story” could be seen. James Bond would soon be launched.

Our grocery store was full of characters. One manager smoked truly AWFUL cigars. You could always tell he’d been there by the floating foul cloud of smoke. Another manager was more excitable, especially when customers accumulated in lines at registers. It sometimes seemed he had a heart attack once a month – out a few days, then back again.

Most of the adults worked around the fringes – in the meat department and produce. the meat men were “not feeling any pain!!!’ We definitely had characters among the flying knives of the produce department. One was the store’s union steward. If you were stocking a shelf, he had a habit of coming up behind you and “checking your oil.” But you couldn’t get mad at him, because he was this maybe 5 foot tall Jewish Leprechaun, with a big grin on his face.

Even though it was a serious, low-profit margin business, we had a general sense of good humor. Part of it had to be the owner. He was a “rich” man, but lived in the community like a normal person. You were teated with respect until you proved you didn’t deserve it. Which probably explains why when he died, it seemed like half the community turned out for his memorial. You stood in the longest, slowest moving line I was ever in for a few words with his widow and kids, two of whom had worked at the store.

Above all this, SHE floated along. Always friendly with a smile. Beautiful without really trying all that hard to be so, efficiently doing her cashier’s job. Reportedly, her boyfriend also worked at the store for a while. One day, I accused them of ‘holding hands’ in a meat bag. She laughed that off too.

One day, a few of us made a pilgrimage to her house. the bolder guy in the group took a peak at a hanging bathing suit near her closet. He eagerly informed us it was a size “X.”

Then one day – She was gone. I was told her lifetime ambition was to be a nun. Some 30 years later I was informed by a person who knew her that she still was a nun. One of my regrets is that I did not pursue finding out more about her.

I”m sure most of us with more earthly thinking thought the same thing: what a waste. How cruel that a woman of this beauty, grace, and maturity was to be cloistered off. It didn’t seem to be “fair.” Why would the community be denied being able to interact with her more?

So, she became a reverse “Maria,” of whom the convent’s nuns worried “How do you solve a problem like Maria?, and “How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?” Our nun certainly wasn’t a “problem<“. but she was a “moonbeam.”

One, if fortunate, will meet memorable people. SHE was one of those, even though only in limited circumstances at a grocery store. Character gets demonstrated in many ways. SHE was one person with a sacred dream who actually followed through on it – committing herself to a life of service to others.

A THREAT. TO. DEMOCRACY., perhaps THE THREAT. Why can MANY observers say that? Consider the following tests. Has the Roberts “court” honored “all Men are created equal” and “unalienable Rights [of[ Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”? Has it honored the Constitution’s REQUIREMENTS to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..promote the general Welfare”? Has it honored the REQUIREMENTS of the Amendments, most especially “The Bill of Rights”? Has the Roberts “court” done anything to remedy the Founders’ 4 major fears: corruption, slavery, religion, mobs – or – has it made the problems WORSE? Has the Roberts “court” in any way helped quality of life? Responses to these questions answer is the Roberts “court” a THREAT to American democracy?

*** A 1997 book, “A Matter of Interpretation: Federal Courts and the Law,” argued that judicial power is dangerous to our democracy if left unchecked. The author: Antonin Scalia.

1] “Supreme Inequality,” Adam Cohen
– “The past fifty years of conservative rulings from the Supreme Court have coincided almost exactly with a period in which economic inequality in the United States has soared to near-historic levels..made extreme educational inequality inevitable…The Court’s campaign finance decisions..are a major reason tax policy is so slanted in favor of the rich…weakening labor unions, it has driven down worker’s wages…making it harder to sue corporations…also contributed to dismantling of the social safety net…life expectancy in the United States declined…tens of millions of Americans are still barely managing to survive…these trends hurt all Americans – because they threaten America itself. Extreme inequality puts democracy at risk.” [Supreme Court rulings ‘THREATEN. AMERICA. ITSELF’]
[perspective: Barlett & Steele’s “The Betrayal of the American Dream”; Hedrick Smith’s “Who Stole the American Dream?”; Wilkinson & Pickett’s “The Spirit Level”: Stiglitz’ “The Price of Inequality”]

*** “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class that’s making war, and we’re winning.”
[Warren Buffett, billionaire investor]

2] a] “Let’s Admit It: The Supreme Court is Corrupt and Clueless”, Jim Hightower, Progressive Populist, 2/l5/23
“There’s nothing supreme about the six-pack of far-right-wing political activists who are presently soiling our people’s ideals of justice by proclaiming their own antidemocratic bias to be the law of the land.”
b]. “The Court’s Third Great Crisis'< Garrett Epps, Washington Monthly, November/December, 2022
“The shadow docket has become a kind of appellate star chamber, resolutely closed to the public or the parties, and aggressively wielded in aid of the Court’s reactionary project..major decisions..were written in terms so broad as to seem an open invitation for conservative advocacy groups seeking to roll back existing precedent in a wide variety of areas..Our Supreme Court is now something akin to the Guardian Council that ensures religious conformity within the “democratic” government of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
c] “A Court of First Resort?”, Jamelle Bouie, New York Times, 12/11/22
“According to Mark A. Lemley, a law professor at Stanford, the Roberts court..is an “imperial” Supreme Court, undermining the power and authority of other branches of government, as well as weakening the power of lower courts..It gets its way, he continues, “..by undercutting the ability of an entity to do something the justices don’t like.”

*** “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
James Madison, Federalist #47]

3]a] “High court grants blanket immunity to feds”; Anya Bidwell, Patrick Jaicomo; USA Today; 6/13/22
“The Supreme court just dealt a huge blow to federal police accountability…It held..a Border Patrol agent is entitled to blanket immunity from lawsuit simply because he happens to work for the federal government..Egbert v. Boule means that nearly all [if not all] federal officials are effectively above the law. If they violate your constitutional rights – even intentionally – there is absolutely nothing you can do about it..”
b] “Police Officers Can’t Be Litigated for Miranda Violations, Justices Rule”, Adam Liptak, New York Times, 6/24/22
“Justice Alito acknowledged that Miranda rights had constitutional roots. but he wrote that “a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution…”Allowing the victim of a Miranda violation to sue a police officer for damages..would have little additional deterrent value, and permitting such claims would cause many problems.” [when things rooted in the Constitution really aren’t!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
c]. “The conservative Assault on the Constitution”, Erwin Chemerinsky
“For the first time in history, the Court concluded that the exclusionary rule does not apply if the Fourth Amendment is violated in good faith or even negligent police actions..is..a very significant undermining of this protection…Our privacy..is protected by the Fourth Amendment..Without [it], there is nothing to keep the police from stopping and searching any person, or searching anyone’s home, any time they want.” [how far from the Gestapo, NKVD, Stasi. Kempei, “morality police”. – is this???

*** “The makers of our Constitution..conferred, as against the government, the right to be let alone – the most
comprehensive of rights, and the most valued by civilized men.” [Justice Brandeis]

4] GUN. TERRORISM
a] “Americans are 25 times more likely to be killed by a gun than people in other nations.” {Gifford PAC] A child is shot in America every minute of every day. “States with the highest gun ownership rates have a gun murder rate 114% higher than those with the lowest.’ [Mother Jones]
b] “Newtown still tries to cope 2 years later”. [Pat Eaton-Robb, Assoc Press, 8/11/19]: Anxiety, depression, guilt, sleeplessness, marital strife, drug and alcohol abuse..the scope of the psychological damage to children, parents and others is becoming clear..agencies have been working to set up a support system for the next 12 to 15 years..”
c] “Rise of bullet-resistant backpacks” [Anne D”Iocenzio, Assoc. Press, 8/11/19}
d]. “Victims face another burden: cost of care”. [Abby Goodnough, New York Times, 4/23/13]; “medical costs for shooting victims average about $50,000..” [an average person’s yearly income]
e] “Not Just A Drill” [Erika Christakis, The Atlantic, March, 2009]; “There’s scant evidence that exercises to prepare students for shootings are effective. They can, however, be psychologically damaging – and they reveal a deeply misguided view of childhood.”
f]. “What’s the Limit on How Much We Can Cry?” {Elizabeth Dias, New York Times, 5/31/22]: “How much value do we place on a single human life?…Violence is an almost normal part of life in the United States..”

*** Roberts “court” responses to all this misery, fear, terror, nightmares, blood, death??? – expanded “gun rights’ – because – “the Second Amendment is in danger of second class status”. – so our[???] “supreme court” twists out of shape, for the first time in 218 years, what the Founders wrote, said, intended [“a well-regulated militia”] into “individual rights” to carry military style weapons anywhere – thus enabling violation of “insure domestic Tranquility”

5]. SEPARATION OF. CHURCH. AND STATE
a]. “If the state controls reproduction”, Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe, 5/11/1989
“As Harvard Law School’s Larry Tribe says, there’s no principled way to say that the government can use women’s bodies against their will to nurture the unborn without accepting the other serious and totalitarian implications about privacy.”..it is worth remembering that if you take away the right of individuals to make decisions about their lives, you cede it to the state.”
b] “When faith trumps politics, danger to the nation emerges”, Lawrence Brown, Cape Cod Times, 7/3/22
“Here’s my problem. Neither the idea of soul – not certainly of ensoulment – can be provided as evidence for our secular law. Citizens can reject..Others can accept..This is precisely what our freedom of religion protects..also what [Dobbs] endangers. [Dobbs] enshrines a faith principle [ensoulment] as a foundation for America’s secular law..It’s also an approach guaranteed to tear our country apart…the fear that in its moment of triumph, a religious minority has seized control of the law. This is where, Jefferson warned us long ago, our troubles begin.”
c]. “The Battle to End Roe Has Changed Democracy”, Mary Ziegler, New York Times, 6/25/22
“The decades-long fight to reverse Roe was..an attempt to change the way American democracy works…in 1992..with six justices nominated by Republicans, the court declined to reverse Roe, explaining that doing so would irrevocably damage its legitimacy. So anti-abortion groups set about to ensure that different kinds of justices would sit on the court…After Casey, some anti-abortion groups expanded their focus: To gin even more control over the Supreme Court nominations, they sought to overhaul the Republican Party and the rules of campaign spending…it’s hard to see the court’s aggressive move t remake constitutional law as anything but antidemocratic.” [perspective: Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil”. – the 5 indications}

*** “If and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] Party, and they’re sure trying to to do so, it’s going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me..believe they’re acting in the name of God..” [Barry Goldwater, 1994]
*** “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.” [Randall Terry]

6]. VOTING
a] “A North Carolina case imperils the U.S. electoral process”, Chicago Tribune, 2/5/23
“…”independent state legislature theory”..has never been sanctioned by the Supreme Court. Now..the court’s conservative justices could make this theory the new standard for American elections. That would prove disastrous for American democracy..would allow state legislatures to thumb their noses at state constitutions..would effectively create a license to gerrymander..it effectively negates the whole concept of checks and balances.”
b] “Courts have their role to play”, New York Daily News, 9/28/22
“If the conservative supermajority embraces the radical “independent state legislature” theory, it will deal a body blow to the integrity of American elections..Our democratic republic already has a hard time taking partisan thumbs off our electoral scales. Remove the courts from the equation, and it would be game over.”
c]”Future of democracy is at stake in N.C. voting case”, Michael Wines, New York Times, 12/7/22
“It is a case “with profound consequences for American democracy,” said J.Michael Luttig, a former federal appeals court judge long time hero to conservatives..what had been a fringe theory known as the independent state legislature doctrine..many in the legal and political establishments see a dangerous subversion of democratic values. Luttig said that, absent changes in federal law governing the counting of electoral votes, an unconstrained legislature might be able to substitute its own slate of presidential electors for the ones the voters had chosen..That would upset centuries of legal tradition.”

*** “It’s not the people who vote that count. It’s the people who count the votes.” [Stalin]
*** “There are no morals in politics; there is only expedience. A scoundrel may be of use to us just because he is a
scoundrel.” [Lenin]
*** “It is not the truth that matters, but victory.” [Hitler]
*** “I am the law.” [Frank Hague, mayor of Jersey City, 11/11/1937]
*** “As long as I count the votes, what are you going to do about it?” [“Boss Tweed; November, 1871]

7]. PERSPECTIVE
Before 2000, the consensus “worst” Supreme Court decisions were “Dred Scott,” “Plessy,” and “Korematsu.” these were joined by “Bush v. Gore” of 2000 infamy. The Roberts “court” has the “honor” of producing a steady steam of cases to be added to the above: “Heller,” “Citizens United,” “Shelby County,” “Espinoza,” “Dobbs.” The “independent state legislature” decisions awaits.

8] Return to basic American principles listed. The evidence, a SMALL fraction of the case that the Roberts “court’ is a THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, says they have failed to honor these 1789- values. Opinion you say??? No – the evidence is THEIR OWN WORDS AND DECISIONS. In case after case, the Roberts “court” has FAILED to “form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, promote the general Welfare.”
As Adam Cohen, in “Supreme Inequality,’ stated: the Roberts “court” has FACTUALLY. made life worse for for the average lower 90% person.
This “court’s” TRACK RECORD: big business wins 75% of cases; “conservative’ fundamentalist religions win 90% of their cases. The Roberts “court” is. THE. most “business-friendly’ court since at least 1945. The Roberts “court” giving certain religions all they ask is UNPRECEDENTED. In the process they have created a class of “super citizens” [a category the 1879 Supreme Court refused to allow], who by claiming “sincerely held” beliefs are now A LAW UNTO THEMSELVES” – and. THEY get to define the terms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A very dangerous and subversive thing in a country supposedly a “democracy” which treats ALL. citizens the same.
And – a country that grants “super citizen” status to SOME PRIVILEGED PEOPLE. – can also declare others [like non-Aryans]. as being sub humans. – but certain religious groups ALREADY. want to do that.

9]. The announced goal of the power behind this “court” and other “conservative’ groups is to create a THEOCRATIC PLUTOCRACY. With Roberts “court’ decisions, those wealthy donors [of “Dark Money”] and religious zealots are moving closer to their goal with every case the universe of “conservative” legal groups can create.

10]. All of this, AND. MCH, MUCH. MORE, is why a variety of legal and constitutional historians and observers have been critical of the Roberts “court.” That criticism is based on one thing: THE RHETORIC AND. TRACK. RECORD. OF THE ROBERTS. ‘court.”
The ice may now have been broken on the restraint critics have shown. One commentator has now crossed the red line: saying the Roberts “court” was “Corrupt And Clueless.”
Other Supreme Courts have been criticized. None before this has been labeled CORRUPT. Which is why, increasingly, the Roberts “court” is seen as “a bunch of political hacks.” Which is why, by both historical and constitutional standards, the Roberts “court” is now rated a THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY. o

CRUELTY. The HERETIC Roberts “court” has, by its action, inactions, rhetoric, allowed and encouraged cruelty to afflict Americans. Decisions and non-decisions range from”small” to major. Once again, this “court” failed the American people in that it has NOT “insure[d] domestic Tranquility nor promote[d] the general Welfare. Innocent people have been wronged. Americans live in fear. Corruption ravages democracy and the American Dream>

*** “If the misery of others leaves you indifferent and with no feeling of sorrow, then you cannot be called a human being.” [Jimmy Carter]

1] Dictionary definitions of CRUEL: willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others. Synonyms: merciless, pitiless, ruthless; cruel implies willingness to cause pain and indifference to suffering; ruthless implies cruelty and unscrupulous, letting nothing stand in one’s way, and using any methods necessary.

*** “Whoever has shown no mercy shall have judgment without mercy.” [James 2: 12-13]

2]. “Ledbetter”. To BEGIN understanding the Roberts “court” indifference to suffering, start with “Ledbetter” [2007]. This case perfectly illustrated the PATTERN of “winners” and “losers.” Research the case, the decision, the outrage in America from that decision, and the Congressional reaction and remedy.

*** “Some things are not forgivable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgivable.” [Tennessee Williams]

3]. “Walmart v. Dukes” [2011]. Begin with Erwin Chemerinsky’s “The Case Against the Supreme Court”: “The Court came to this conclusion despite the fact..the plaintiffs presented a great deal of evidence to show..Walmart had company-wide practices and policies that caused sex discrimination..statistical studies..expert witnesses..large number of affidavits..it is striking..the Supreme Court consistently ignores this legislative objective and repeatedly construes the statutes to favor business.” [Preamble: U.S. gov’t created to “promote the general Welfare,” NOT corporations]

*** “Evil begins when you treat people as things.” [Terry Pratchatt]

4]. Garrett Epps, “The Court’s Third Great Crisis”, Washington Monthly, Nov-Dec, 2022
– “Well before Dobbs was even argued, it was clear that gutting abortion rights would cause chaos and suffering..it was clear, neither government officials, medical professionals, nor pregnant woman themselves were prepared for the changes a wholesale rejection of Roe would make in obstetric care, maternal health, and..maternal survival.”
[dictionary definition of cruelty: willfully or knowingly causing pain and distress in others]

*** “Some cruel people..seem not to feel anything..A lack of what is judged appropriate feeling..for the plight of the individual whose suffering they cause.” [Tom Regan]

5] “A Wrongfully convicted man must die..to preserve procedure?”, Bryan Clark, Idaho Statesman, 6/12/22
– “..another opinion, both cruel and absurd, issued by the Republican supermajority deserves attention..This is the decision released last month, “Shinn v. Martinez Ramierez,” which is likely to result in the execution of an innocent man…And not because the court has weighed the evidence for and against guilt.. The court is pushing to execute him because it says the evidence showing he is innocent should not be considered at all..The current state of the evidence against Jones is so poor that a federal judge found no judge or jury would likely convict him of any crime..in a prior ruling, a more sane U.S. Supreme Court found..Arizona’s appeal had gaping procedural deficiency of its own.. But this court decided to exercise its discretion to set the procedural hurdle aside..The necessary boxes have been checked, and so it’s time to kill a man. It is as inhuman as it sounds.”
[now – REREAD this. Which is the ‘poster boy’ for Roberts “court” cruelty: this case, Ledbetter, Walmart-Dukes ???]

***”Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on earth.” [Roberto Clemente – who died in a plane crash carrying help to disaster survivors]

6] “Despite dangerous complications, pregnant women denied abortions”, Laura Ungar, Heather Hollingsworth, Associated Press, 12/4/22
– “A growing number of physicians and families tell similar stories..Pregnant women with dangerous medical conditions are showing up at hospitals and doctor’s offices only to be denied the abortions that could help treat them..” “How close to death must a patient be?” ..Despite the risks of infection and blood loss, she couldn’t get an abortion..She drove 4 1/2 hours from home – while in labor – and had the procedure…She got her tubes tied.”
[“willfully or knowingly causing pain or distress to others”]

*** “Cruelty, is perhaps, the worst kind of sin, intellectual cruelty is certainly the worst kind of cruelty.” [Colbert K. Chesterton]

7]. CHARACTER
a] “Leave My Disability Out Of Your Propaganda”, Kendall Ciesemier, New York Times, 8/2/22
– “Justice Brett Kavanaugh, in a 2007 opinion for the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit, affirmed the government interest in forcing two disabled people to have abortions, saying that “accepting the wishes of the patients who lack [and always have lacked] the mental capacity to make medical decisions does not make legal sense and would cause erroneous medical decisions.”
b] “Justice” Gorsuch. Research Gorsuch’s pre-Court career; specifically the “Frozen Trucker” verdict, which he lost. Read what Gorsuch said, especially “it wasn’t my job.” Then return to definitions of “cruel.”
c] “Justice” Alito. Research his government career. In his confirmation hearing he said he “had no agenda.” How many people believe that now? The New York times reported Alito promised Senator Kennedy “Roe” was firm and he wouldn’t attack it.
d] “Justice” Scalia. He was an arrogant man. In his mind, on anything, he was “right” and YOU were wrong by definition. He alienated 3 Supreme Court justices so much they often worked against him – to America’s benefit. His insistence on his interpretation of the Constitution – “originalism” – which the Founders themselves rejected.
e] “Justice” Thomas. is an angry and bitter man; has invented a number of bogus theories and interpretations of the Constitution – in the name of “originalism.” “..Thomas ..vowed on the day of his confirmation, at age forty-three, that he intended to spend the next forty-three years..as a Supreme Court justice. It would take that long, he told friends, to get even.” [“Strange Justice”, Jane Mayer & Jill Abramson. page 360]

***”All cruel people describe themselves as paragons of frankness.” [Tennessee Williams]

8]. “Risks to Patients as Doctors Deal With Abortion Exceptions”, David Goodman & Azeen Ghorayshi, New York Times, 7/21/22
– “All of us know some of them will die,” Dr. Alireza A. Shamshirsaz, an obstetrician, about delayed treatment and the danger to patients…The fetus would not be viable outside the womb..The hospital sent her home to wait for signs of infection or labor…The option to terminate the pregnancy has long part of the standard care…suffered because they were not allowed to end their pregnancies…One woman required a hysterectomy..all but one of the pregnancies ended with the death of the fetus. “So why did they put them through that?”…”We sent the patient home against her will.”
[“ALL OF US KNOW SOME OF THEM WILL DIE…SO WHY DID WE PUT THEM THROUGH THAT?”]

*** “It is usually when men are at their most religious that they behave with the least sense and the greatest cruelty.” [Ilka Chase}. *****Note” for more perspective, read Charles Kimball’s “When Religion Becomes Evil” – and “The Five Warning Signs Of Corruption In Religion” – and go back to the definitions of cruelty abov]

9] Erwin Chemerinsky: “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution”
– “Iqball” [2009]. the “court” ruled, 5-4, the complaint should be dismissed because he failed to allege sufficient facts for a court to conclude it was “plausible” he might win, “no longer did courts have to accept the allegations of the complaint as true, conclusory allegations of fact should be ignored by federal courts..a “radical” decision, every sample complaint in Federal Rules of Civil Procedure would have to be dismissed.” [throw out the rules!!!! the Roberts “court” knows better]

*** “Great is the mischief of a legal crime.” [R.W. Emerson – on the Fugitive Slave law]

10] United States v. Higgs, Sotomayor dissent..”Her project was to make as precise a record as possible of the court’s behavior..[executions of last 6 months vs last 6 decades]. “The Court has even intervened to lift stays of execution that lower courts put in place, ensuring those prisoner”s challenges would never receive a meaningful hearing. The Court made these weighty decisions in response to emergency applications, with little opportunity for proper briefing and consideration, often in just a few short days or even hours. Very few of these decisions offered any public explanation for their rationale. This is not justice.” [return to item #5 above – executing an innocent man]

*** “The best index to a person’s character is [a] how he treats people who can’t do him any good, and [b] how he treats people who can’t fight back.” [Abagail Van Buren}

11] Then please reconsider”
a]. the cruelty of “Citizens United” – which by all factual accounts has led to at least the doubling of corporate “campaign donations,” and who knows how much “Dark Money” [Jane Mayer]. This cruelty is the acceptance and “normalization” of allowing the most rich and powerful to disproportionately set the rules for “democratic” discussion and governance.
b] the cruelty of “Heller” and subsequent lies about what the Second Amendment really says – by the rules of English grammar, by the written intent of the founders, by 5 previous Supreme Court rulings. AMERICANS NOW LIVE IN FEAR. NOWHERE in America is safe. K-college kids are afraid to go to school. Tens of thousands are traumatized EVERY year. Armed men show up at public meetings. No other “civilized” nation endures such domestic terror.
c] the cruelty of “Shelby County” in denying American citizens an equal right to vote. The opinion announcing this infamous decision was a LIE. Within 24 hours, previously unconstitutional practices began. Compounded by this “court’s’ refusal to outlaw gerrymandering – known for 200 years to be a corrupt practice.
d]. the cruelty of being denied access to court to pursue suits against the most powerful business organizations. The right to use courts in the Bill of Rights vetoed by a Roberts “court” winner – big business.
e] the cruelty of attacks on government’s ability to function, and to solve pressing public interest problems. “Little” people, the kind who can’t afford multi-million dollar “campaign contributions” need government to protect them from big business – so, they are programmed to lose by Roberts “court” hidden rules.

*** “The trouble with {Adolf} Eichmann was precisely that so many were like him, and that the many were neither perverted or sadistic, that they were, and still are, terribly and terrifyingly normal..” [Hannah Arendt}

CORRUPTION. The #1 fear of the Founders. The destructive decisions of the HERETIC Roberts “court” have made corruption more likely. The infamous “Citizens United”, “Shelby County”, and the refusal to declare gerrymandering a corrupt practice [something which has been KNOWN for over 200 years] are but the tip of a huge, ticking time bomb waiting to explode and destroy American democracy.

1] Google: corruption is “dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those n power.” #2: “The process by which something, typically a word or expression, is changed from its original use or meaning to one that is regarded as erroneous or debased.” #3 What is the exact meaning of corruption? “Corruption erodes trust, weakens democracy, hampers economic development and further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis.”

2] dictionary/thesaurus definitions, corrupt: debased in character, tainted, made inferior by errors or alterations, as a text; to alter [a language, text, etc] for worse. Corrupt: dishonest, fraudulent unethical, fallacious, , misleading; unreliable: wrong. [to debase] degrade, adulterate, depreciate, taint, ruin, undermine, subvert, impair, deform, misuse, lower, weaken. [o render inaccurate] falsify, misrepresent, misstate, alter, gloss over, fabricate, invent, twist, warp. Corruption: corrupt or dishonest proceedings; debasement or alteration, as of language or text. fraud, misrepresentation, breech of trust.
*** Now – think of the 2005-2023 activities and rhetoric of the Heretic Roberts “court. “Breech of trust; “to alter [language, text, etc.] for worse,” “something..a word or expression, is changed from its original use or meaning..”, “weakens democracy,” further exacerbates inequality, poverty, social division and the environmental crisis; “unethical,” “fabricate,” “wrong,” “undermine,” “subvert,” “invent,” “twist,” “warp,” “misrepresent.” Legal scholars, Supreme Court Justices have accused the Heretic Roberts “court” of doing ALL this – with SPECIFIC reference to SPECIFIC decisions

*** “Corruption comes by degrees.” [Juvenal]

3] “Corporate-Friendly Courts Were the Real Plan”, Sorab Ahmari, Patrick Deneen, Chad Pecknold, New York Times, 6/19/22
– “..the Federalist Society appears poised for a triumph..an economic revolution..on behalf of corporations and other powerful market actors..The Society was one of many institutions nurtured by the right wing of the donor class to roll back the legal and material achievements of U.S. workers..and to elevate economic deregulation law and clear congressional intent to expand the use of commercial arbitration. to employment and consumer contexts..despite the manifest imbalance of power.”

3]b] Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, in “Closing the Court-House Door” has written an entire book on “How Your Constitutional Rights Became Unenforceable” because “The Court has restricted who has standing to sue, expanded immunity of governments and government workers, limited the kinds of cases the federal courts can hear, and restricted the right of habeas corpus.”

*** “Whenever there is power, greed, and money, there is corruption>”. [Ken Poirot]

4]. Chris Hedges: “American Fascists. The Christian Right And The War On America”
– “..nearly 25 years ago..Dr. James Luther Adams, my ethics professor at Harvard Divinity School, told us..when we were his age..we would all be fighting the “Christian Fascists.”…The warning came at a moment Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists began speaking about a new political religion that would direct its efforts at taking control of all institutions..Its stated goal was to use the United States to create a global Christian empire.
“He was in Germany in 1935 and 1936..He saw in the Christian Right, long before we did, disturbing similarities with the German Christian Church and the Nazi Party..Adams had seen how the mask of religion hides irreligion.
“The call to obliterate the public and private wall that keeps faith the prerogative of the individual means the obliteration of democracy. [***THE OBLITERATION OF DEMOCRACY] ..in the totalitarian world, there are those worth of love and those unworthy of it..the private sphere becomes the concern of the state. This final restriction of freedom to love..heralds the death of the open society..
“We must, Adams told us, watch closely what these new fascists accuse their opponents of planning. For radical movements expose their own intentions and goals by tarring their enemies with their own nefarious motives…Adams knew that resentments and bigotry lurk below the surface of all democratic societies and can be roused..to promote a creed that calls for the destruction of democracy.
“Adams told us to watch closely what the Christian Right did to homosexuals. The Nazis had used “values” to launch state repression of opponents. Hitler, days after he took power..imposed a ban on all homosexual and lesbian organizations..{and} was largely cheered by German churches. But this campaign legitimized tactics, outside the law, that would soon be employed against others.”
[** read this VERY carefully, Adams warning HAS occurred right in front of YOU, is happening RIGHT NOW***]

*** “As a nation, we began by declaring that all men are created equal. We now practically read it, all men are created equal except Negroes. When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read, all men are created equal except Negroes and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty – to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.” [Abraham Lincoln, 8/24/55]

5] “Examining Justice Alito”, Jamelle Bouie, New York Times, 11/27/22
– “..the most striking detail is the extent to which a number of Republican justices, Alito included, appear to have been the targets of a sophisticated and well-funded influence operation design to notch as many legal and constitutional victories for moneyed and conservative interests as the justices are willing to give..Jodi Kantor and Jo Becker, describe a kind of revolving door, where wealthy donors to conservative causes invite the justices to meals, vacation homes and private clubs..contribute money to the Supreme Court Historical Society for the purpose of meeting with and influencing the justices..where the former head of one such operation, Faith and Action, went so far as to purchase a building across the street from the court so that he could cultivate the people who worked there.”

*** “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” [Lord Acton]

6]. “High court grants blanket immunity to feds”, Anya Bidwell, Patrick Jaicomo, USA Today, 6/13/22
– The Supreme Court just dealt a huge blow to federal police accountability..it held that a Border Patrol agent is entitled to blanket immunity from lawsuit simply because he happens to work for the federal government. The court’s ruling in Engbert v. Boyle means that nearly all [if not all] federal officials are effectively above the law. If they violate your constitutional rights – even intentionally – there is absolutely nothing you can do about it unless and until Congress gives you a permission slip to enforce the Constitution…the reason..in Justice Clarence Thomas” words, no court is ever “competent to authorize a damage action” against Border Patrol agents..This decision is just the most recent blow to federal accountability..2017 ruling in Ziglar v. Abbasi..its 2020 ruling in Hernandez vs. Mesa…Enbert v. Boule is the latest in the Court’s death-by-a-thousand-cuts approach to federal accountability.”

*** “Corruption is like a ball of snow, once set rolling it must increase.” [C.C. Colton}

7] “Police Officers Can’t BE Litigated for Miranda Violations, Justices Rule.”, Adam Liptak, New York Times, 6/24/22
– “Justice Alito acknowledged that Miranda rights had constitutional roots. But he wrote that “a violation of Miranda does not necessarily constitute a violation of the Constitution..”Allowing the victims of a Miranda violation to sue a police officer for damages..would have little additional deterrent value, and permitting such claims would cause many problems.”.. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote..”Today, the court strips individuals of the ability to seek a remedy for violations of the right recognized in Miranda.”

*** “Power does not corrupt men; fools however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.” [George Bernard Shaw]

8]. “Powers of EPA limited.”, Robert Barnes, Dino Grandoni, Washington Post Weekly, 7/3/22
– “Capping carbon dioxide emissions at a level that will force nationwide transition away from the use of coal to generate electricity may be a sensible “solution to the crisis of the day,” Roberts wrote, referring to a court precedent. “But it is not plausible that Congress gave EPA the authority to adopt on its own such a regulatory scheme.”…The case deeply divided the business community. Many companies and other firms in the coal sector urged the court to rein in EPA..major tech and retail firms investing in renewable energy..told the court that “stable, nationwide rules” are needed to avert climate disaster.”

*** “Why sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.” [Alice in Wonderland]

9]. “The court’s Thomas family problem”, Jesse Wegman, New York Times, 3/29/22
– “And that’s precisely the problem: We shouldn’t have to wonder. The Supreme Court is the most powerful judicial body in the country, and yet, as Alex Hamlin reminded us, it has neither the sword nor the purse as a means to enforce its rulings. It depends instead on the American people’s acceptance of its legitimacy, which is why the justices must make every possible effort to appear fair, unbiased, and beyond reproach. The most obvious way for justices to demonstrate their independence in practice..is to recuse themselves from any case in which their impartiality might reasonably be questioned. It does not matter whether there is, in fact, a conflict of interest: the mere appearance of bias or conflict should be enough to compel..any member of the court to step aside. Thomas has paid lip service to this ideal..the brazenness with the Thomases have flouted the most reasonable expectations of judicial rectitude is without precedent..”

*** “A liar begins with making falsehood appear like truth, and ends with making truth itself appear like falsehood.” [William Shenstone]

10] WARNING: YOU should NOT just examine the Heretic Roberts “court” alone. Context matters. YOU should be asking WHY are THESE 6 Republican activists on the Supreme Court??? There were millions spent to get them there – WHY??? AND – WHO spent that money??? Investigate the post-2005 Republican mantra for the Supreme Court: “No more O’Connors” and “No more Souters”. exactly WHAT is being said here??? WHY is it that Republicans don’t want any more justices like O’Connor and Souter – THEIR OWN nominees????? What did O’Connor and Souter do on the Supreme Court that was “wrong” in Republican eyes??? ***THIS. IS. A. BIG. QUESTION. – that unlocks much of what current right-wing “justice’ is all about.
Numerous legal scholars and Supreme Court justices have said: “people on a mission”. – what does THIS mean?????
Remember among “corruption” definitions were “breach of trust,” debasement or alteration, as of language or text; unethical, misleading, wrong, undermine, subvert, fabricate. Have YOU seen any examples of this???????????????
How do the rulings of this Heretic “court” honor or dishonor the Founding Generations KNOWN intents??? How do they or don’t they honor the 27 Amendments? Has this “court” formed a “more perfect Union, establish[ed] Justice, insure[d] domestic Tranquility, promote[d] the general Welfare?????????????????

Has this “court” sincerely practiced and illustrated “the better angels of our nature” ?

This HERETIC “court” has violated the confidence and trust of the American people. More and more, especially after July, 2022, Americans see the HERETIC Roberts “court” as a “kangaroo court. Their track record of using cases to accomplish ideological goals; the increasingly common comment of a “court” that is “on a mission”; the questions of “why are they accepting this case?”; brings this “court” more into disrepute; threatens the VERY IDEA of “justice”; builds questions of “is this really a “supreme court” from the shabby opinions issued – as in is THIS the best “legal reasoning” that America can produce???

1] Erwin Chemerinsky: “The Conservative Assault on the Constitution”
— “The assault on the constitution is the result of a concerted effort by conservatives to alter fundamental constitutional principles. The focus needs to be not just on the courts, but also on the policies developed during the presidencies of Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush, and Bush..conservatives have sought to create unprecedented, unchecked executive power..to obliterate the long-standing wall separating church and state..to abolish any constitutional protection for privacy..sought to greatly reduce constitutional protections for criminal defendants..worked to eliminate all affirmative action and to institute a vision of the Constitution that will perpetuate deep racial inequalities..Most successfully, they have closed the courthouse doors…
“The conservative assault on the Constitution is driven not by methodology or interpretive philosophy but by ideology..Justice Scalia professes..he follows the original meaning of the Constitution, but his are the views of the 2008 Republican platform, not of the Constitution’s framers.”

***”Before mass leaders seize the power to fit reality to their lies, their propaganda is marked by its extreme contempt for facts as such, for in their opinion fact depends entirely on the power of men who can fabricate it.” [Hannah Arendt]

2] “The Supreme Court Has A Crisis of Trust”, New York Times editorial, 10/2/22
– “The court’s rulings are now in line with the views of the average Republican voter. In the process, the court has unmoored itself from both the Constitution it is sworn to protect and the American people it is privileged to serve..The way the court went about eliminating the federal right to abortion is a prime example of..misuse of its power. First, the right-wing justices used the court’s “shadow docket,”.. to allow an obviously unconstitutional anti-abortion law in Texas to stand. They also agreed to hear a separate challenge out of Mississippi..that didn’t formally ask them to overturn Roe v. Wade..they chose to do so anyway..”

*** “The essential claim of the fundamentalist is that he knows the truth..It is an external truth, brought to him by a book, a sacred text, a mullah, a pope, a guru, a political visionary, or a religious community with an authoritative pastor.” [Andrew Sullivan: “The Conservative Soul”]

3]. “Compelled Contributions”, RobBoston, Church and State, October, 2021
– “The case, “Carson v. Malkin,” is sponsored by the “Institute for Justice,” a libertarian organization that has long sought to erode public education and other government provided services…The new legal tussle comes during a time when the Supreme Court has been redefining “religious freedom” in troubling ways [Zelman, Trinity, Espinoza]..The parents are essentially asserting that without taxpayer support, they can’t fully practice their faith. There was a time when such a stance would have been laughed out of the Supreme Court.”

***North Carolina Constitution, 1776, Articles XXXIV: “..there shall be no establishment of anyone religious church or denomination in this State..either shall any person, on any pretense whatsoever, be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his own faith..nor be obliged to pay, for the purchase of any glebe, or the building of any house of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes right..”
not “ON ANY. PRETENSE. WHATSOEVER ” – forced to support another person’s religion, in any way. PERIOD.

4]. “R.I.P. the Establishment Clause,” Nicholas J. Little, Free Inquiry, October/November, 2020
– in Espinoza, the Montana Department of Revenue ruled the state’s no-aid program prohibited vouchers subsidizing education in religious schools. The Montana Supreme Court struck down the entire program. “No program..existed that discriminated against religion. No student or school was in a worse place because of their religious identification..Yet the Supreme Court not only took up the case, it ruled that the scholarship program must be reinstated and must permit religious schools to participate..at a stroke, ruled the no-aid provision of thirty-eight states unconstitutional..The decision took standing law – the baseline requirement..an individual must have an active dispute causing real harm to proceed in court – and threw it out..To reach the decision the Court wanted..it accepted a case with no active dispute..there were no victims.” [this is called USING CASES TO REACH DESIRED IDEOLOGICAL GOALS]

*** “When a religion is good, I conceive that it will support itself; and when it cannot support itself..it is a sign, I apprehend, of its being a bad one.” [Benjamin Franklin, 10/9/1780]

5]. “The Court’s Third Great Crisis”, Garrett Epps, Washington Monthly, November/December, 2022
– “..the Court granted review in a North Carolina case that would give the conservative majority a chance to begin to establish a principle Texas..tried to use to overturn the 2020 election..”independent state legislature”..can decide elections..A second granted case presents a chance to cut back drastically on the remaining protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A third set of cases affords the Court the chance to achieve a long-held conservative aim of eliminating “affirmative action” programs in college admissions.
“..the partisan lineup..the aggressive tone of the majority’s opinions..the willingness of the conservative justices to lend themselves to seemingly partisan organizations, events, causes; the ostentatious disregard by Clarence Thomas of even the most basic norms of impartiality – all of these resemble nothing so much as the workings of a legislative branch of government..Our Supreme Court is now something akin to the Guardian Council that ensures religious conformity within the..Islamic Republic of Iran.”
[this is called USING CASES TO ACHIEVE DESIRED IDEOLOGICAL GOALS – like the Guardian Council of another
“republic” that claims to be “democratic”]

***”A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.” [R.B. Ginsburg, Senate confirmation hearing]

6]. Erwin Chemerinsky: “The Case Against The Supreme Court”
– “Citizens United”.. significantly changed the American political system..on June 29, 2009, the Court on its own, asked for a new briefing..None of the parties to the case has asked the Court to consider this constitutional issue..Justice Stevens wrote a lengthy dissent, vehemently disagreeing with every aspect of the majority decision…
“There is much that is deeply disturbing about this case..the premise that spending money is pure speech is dubious..spending money is conduct..the premise that corporations should have the same speech rights as individuals is just wrong..no evidence..the framers of the First Amendment meant to protect corporations or campaign spending..Citizens United was stunning for its judicial activism.”
[this is called. USING CASES TO ACHIEVE DESIRED IDEOLOGICAL GOALS]

*** “We can either have a democracy in this country or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few. But we cannot have both.” [Justice Brandeis]

7]a] “Limitations of Statute”, Marcia Brown, Washington Monthly, July-August, 2022
– “These attacks on “Chevron” represent the culmination of a decades-long effort by conservatives..to achieve..the “deconstruction of the administrative state”.. Conservatives have executed a strategy to delegitimize and derail the system by which federal agencies produce rules and regulations. They have built an archipelago of independent-funded think tanks and university-affiliated institutions to cast doubt on individual regulations and the rule-making apparatus in general. When, in power, they have slashed funding and staff to agencies and wielded cost-benefit analysis in ways that emphasize the supposed cost of regulations and minimize the possible benefits. And Republicans have, for decades, prioritized supplying a steady stream of anti-regulatory judges to the federal bench.”

7]b] “Race Has Role In Major Cases Before Justices”, Adam Liptak, New York Times, 10/3/22
– “The court has near-total power to decide which cases it will hear, and it often uses discretion to resolve disputes among lower courts. The court agreed to hear many of the major cases in the coming term despite lack of such conflicts, an indication that the new majority is pursuing an agenda and setting the pace of change.”

7]c] “The court, restraining bureaucrats, stages its own power grab”, Noah Feldman, Bloomberg Opinion, 7/5/22
– “The bad news is that, using the superseding doctrine of “major questions” as a workaround, courts unsympathetic to agency action now have a tool to overturn administrative regulations rather than deferring to the agencies. To make matters worse, “major question” doctrine could easily be understood as a further step toward eventual abolition of the “Chevron” doctrine.”

7]d] “Major Victory in Long Game to Dismantle Business Regulations”, Charlie Savage, New York Times, 7/1/22
– “The Supreme Court ruling in the Environmental Protection case..was a substantial victory for libertarian-minded conservatives who have worked for decades to curtail or dismantle modern-style government regulation of the economy..a decision whose implications go beyond hobbling the government’s ability to fight climate change. Many other types of regulations might now be harder to defend. The ruling widens an opening to attack a government structure that, in the 20th century, became the way American society imposed rules on businesses..For decades, wealthy conservatives have been funding a long-game effort to hobble the system.”

*** “Only governments and..courts remained as sources of authority, if enacted Charles’s “libertarian policies would eliminate these.”…”He was driven..to smash the one thing left in the world that could discipline him: government.” [Clayton Coppin]
“..our movement must destroy the prevalent statist paradigm” [Charles Koch, 1978 “Libertarian Review” article]

There is much in the above evidence [ a small fraction of the mountain of evidence] that should frighten YOU. The wealthy “conservatives” want to dismantle a government system of rules that exists, is meant, to protect YOU against the 1865-2023 corporate track record of doing ANYTHING, including murder, to maximize their profits. The Heretic Roberts “court” is a culmination of those efforts. The Roberts court is THE SINGLE MOST ‘BUSINESS-FRIENDLY ‘supreme court’ since 1945 – which is a major reason why they’re in power. No other modern “court” has attempted to RADICALLY change the course of 1901-2004 American history, society, government as this “court” has.

***July, 2022, Justice Sotomayor: “A restless and newly constituted court..continues to dismantle the wall of separation between church and state that the Framers fought to build.”
*** July, 2022, Justice Kagan: “The Court appoints itself – instead of Congress or the expert agency – the decision-maker on climate policy. I cannot think of many things more frightening.”