Tag: supreme-court

The Trump DICTATORSHIP. – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, CCII – The “supreme court” Makes Up More Legal GARBAGE To Empower Trump

~ tomdolen

***. “Republicans care most about those who will only get richer because of government help. The government is truly broken…and another four years, and heaven forbid not eight years under the Republicans, and our grandchildren will have to build a new government, because the one we have will be unrecognizable and unworkable.”
[ A “lifelong” Republican who knew Bush and Cheney personally, worked in the Nixon White House – specifically gave this quote to John Dean to use as the book’s closing statement in “Broken Government How Republican Rule Destroyed the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches” ]. [NOTE: with every passing day, every asinine “supreme court” decree, virtually every Trump DICTATORSHIP action – YOU are now seeing this fearful prediction come true]

This post will present excerpts from 6/30/26 reactions to yet another Roberts ‘supreme court” UNCONSTITUTIONAL, UNDEMOCRATIC. ruling violating the OBVIOUS intent of the Founding American Generation to create a REAL democracy, one in which Congress, NOT the president was to be the dominate governmental body.

In some better, more rational, more CONSTITUTIONAL. future – the decisions of the CORRUPT Roberts ‘court” will be studies for their LAUGHABLE reasoning, their corruption of clear and obvious Founding Generation intent, words, fears. Having just revolted against a king. – they had NO intention of allowing another king. – the imperial president. – to become a legal tyrant.

*** “Power must never be trusted without a check.” [ John Adams; Founding Father ]

1]. “In a major expansion of presidential authority, the Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for President Trump to fire independent government regulators despite federal laws meant to protect their jobs.” [ Ann Marimow: “Justices Broaden President’s Sway Over Regulators”; New York Times; 6/30/26 ]

2]. “The court’s 6-to-3 ruling to broadly allow the firings…represented a significant shift in power from congress to the president, and could drastically change the federal government’s structure by giving the president more control over independent agencies.” [ Marimow ]

3] “The case tested whether Mr. Trump could oust Rebecca Kelly Slaughter, a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, simply because she did not align with his agenda, despite a law that says the president can remove commissioners only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” [ Marimow ]

*** “The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted.” [ James Madison; Founding Father ]

4]. “Several justices have for years said that they were eager to overturn the 1935 precedent, Humphrey’s Executor v. United States, that has protected independent agencies.” [ Marimow ]
[NOTE. we’ve seen this before. – Roberts ‘court” “justices” USING a case to carry out prejudices, NOT support legal precedent and Congressional intent. Under the Constitution. – CONGRESS, not the president, makes laws. AND. – WHY are these agencies called. “independent agencies” ??????? ]

5] “Justice Sonia Sotomayor read a lengthy summary of her dissent from the bench, warning that the decision would unleash chaos. Independent agencies will be “transformed in ways that those who created them never could have expected and actively sought to avoid, fundamentally recalibrating the balance of power in this country…..”It is a power..that neither the people, nor Congress, nor the Constitution bestowed upon him”…” [ Marimow ]

6] “Today’s ruling makes it possible for presidents to fire watchdogs who won’t put politics over principle, and replace them with lap dogs,” Slaughter said. it’s a recipe for corruption. Working families will pay the price.” [ Marimow ]

***. “Checks and balances, limited government. – the genius of our constitutional system is its recognition that no one branch of government alone can be relied on to preserve our freedoms.” President Ronald Reagan; Republican ]

7] “For nearly a century, the Supreme Court has made it difficult for a president to defy the clear text of a law passed by Congress. The court prevented Franklin D. Roosevelt from firing a leader of the Federal Trade Commission in 1935. it stopped the Reagan administration from defying a pollution investigation in 1988. It helped block Barack Obama’s attempt to expand immigration protections in 2016.” [ New York times editorial: “The Supreme court’s Hypocrisy; 6/30/26]

8] “The ruling dismisses longstanding precedent and effectively discards a 112-year-old law that said the president could fire commissioners only for “inefficiency, neglect of duty or malfeasance in office.” Mr. Trump can now fire commissioners in regulatory agencies simply because he wants to.” [ Times editorial; 6/30/26 ]

9]. “..the unitary theory ends up being more radical, and more disruptive to the previous understanding of the separation of powers, than its advocates typically acknowledge. there is no question Congress has some authority over regulatory agencies. The Constitution gives the Senate confirmation power for top positions…Chief Justice Roberts says this merely gives the Senate the power to confirm or reject the appointees that the president prefers. but this view throws out nearly a century of practice that congress put in place because it saw bipartisan composition as a strength for agencies.” [ Times editorial; 6/30/26 ]

***. “In republican government, the legislative authority necessarily predominates.” [ James Madison; Federalist Papers #10, #51 ]

1-] “Central to the success of the American experiment over nearly 250 years has been the balance of powers among the three branches of government. Together, Mr. Trump and this Supreme Court are upsetting that balance. They are deviating from a tradition that has lasted more than a century, in which parts of the government operate with bipartisan leadership removed from everyday partisan politics, as Congress intended.” [ Times editorial; 6/30/2611]

11] “The effect is to sideline Congress, which the authors of the Constitution viewed as the primary branch among equals. The Supreme Court on Monday created a government run by a very small number of people who work at either the Supreme Court or the White House.” [ Times editorial; 6/30/26 ]. [NOTE – just as “Project 2025” and other far-right people have planned – which is why we discuss “your” American government as The Trump DICTATORSHIP ]

*** “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 Papers #47 ]

12] “In a tiny corner of the legal world…the March ruling crashed down like a thunderbolt…the Merit Systems Protection Board, whose purpose is to protect federal workers…backed President Trump’s assertion that he has broad authority to reshape the executive branch as he wants. The ruling broke with decades of precedent…it defanged the most effective method of federal workers to challenge their dismissals, and if upheld on appeal could undercut protections for broad swaths of the civil service.” [ Jonah Bromwich, Michael Schmidt, Rebecca Davis O’Brien: “White House Swayed A Board That Protects Workers From Firings”; New York times; 6/30/26 ]. [ NOTE: a DICTATORSHIP gets rid of people who are not “loyal” to the DICTATOR, by ANY means necessary…… Do YOUR homework; WHY was a non-political American civil service created???????????? ]

*** “The most odious of all oppressions are those which mask as justice.” [ Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson ]

[NOTE: for PERSPECTIVES. – do YOUR own research of 1787-2005 U.S. legal and Constitutional intent and thought. You can begin with sources listed below. What EVIDENCE do they provide? What are their footnotes? WHY do they call the Roberts ‘court” CORRUPT? Remember THE test, from the Preamble: ‘..to promote the general Welfare..” What have been results of Roberts ‘court” decisions – on guns, on campaign finance, on voting rights, on civil rights, on presidential immunity, etc. – and the effect on America?
– “Raphael Warnock Says the SupremeCourt has Done ‘violence’ to Democracy” [ David Marchese; New York times Magazine; 6/14/26]; “Justices Gut Voting Rights to shield GOP majority – and Their Own Disgrace” [ Joe Conason; The Progressive Populist; June, 2026 ]; “The Scheme. How the right Wing used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court” {Senator Sheldon Whitehorse}; “The Shadow Docket. How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic”. [ Stephen Vladek }; “The Originalism Trap” [ Madiba Dennie ]; “Lawless. How the Supreme Court Runs on Conservative Grievance, Fringe Theories, and Bad Vibes”. [ Leah Litman ]; “Without Precedent How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled our Rights”. [Lisa Graves ]

The Trump DICTATORSHIP – Stupidity, Cruelty, Corruption, Craziness, LXXXX – Undermining, Unraveling, Destroying American Rule of Law.

~ tomdolen


*** “No man is above the law and no man is below the law; nor do we ask anyman’s permission when we require him to obey the law.” [ Theodore Roosevelt; Republican; 26th U.S. President ]

2] “Many judges said the politicization of judges, the Supreme Court’s expanding use of the emergency dockets and sustained criticism from the Trump administration have pushed the courts and democracy to a fragile tipping point – one where cooperation with rulings and adherence to the rule of law can no longer be assumed.”

“RETIRED JUDGES WARN THAT THE RULE OF LAW IS UNRAVELING”
[Brianna Tucker; Washington Post; 11/30/25]

If YOU are a caring, concerned, patriotic American. – this article is a MUST read. It is, unfortunately, NOT the first such reporting to be expressed. Note WHO is talking – retired judges. Legal experts have been expressing dismay and urgent concern that among the damages the Trump DICTATORSHIP has imposed upon America. – a critical, perhaps THE critical sabotage has been a wide-ranging program to DESTROY America’s “Rule of Law,” a fundamental American strength since 1789. Donald John Trump, and his powerful wealthy backers and donors, want American law bent to support their immoral, greedy, reckless, selfish purposes. If YOU don’t understand this – YOU don’t understand the depth and breadth of the Trump DICTATORSHIP’s threat to American law, government, democracy, society, values, freedoms.

Following are excerpts from “Retired Judges Warn The Rule of Law is Unraveling”:
4] “All you have to do is look back on what occurred in Nazi Germany,’ said Barbara Pariente, a former chief justice on the Florida Supreme Court. In 1937, judges deemed by the Nazi regime as noncompliant with its laws were replaced, resulting in a overhaul of its judicial system.”

6] “Under Trump, many judges and other legal experts say that dynamic has degraded into unjustified criticism, with the president using social media and public speeches to attack judges who rules against his policies.”

9] “Several former judges called the increase in the Trump administration ignoring, defying or circumventing judicial decisions alarming and warned the trend severely weakens the separation of powers that has defined the United States for more than 200 years”

15]. “What he’s done with universities, what he’s done with law firms, what he’s done with the media…it’s changing our country,” Scheindlin said. “Our civil rights are not being protected, our voting rights, immigration rights, whatever they are, we’re losing them.”

***. “It is the spirit and not the form of law that keeps justice alive.” [ Earl Warren; Chief Justice; U.S. Supreme Court ]

1]. “When the White House blasted a federal judge as “partisan” for dismissing the criminal cases against former FBI director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James this week, it was an attack that has become common in President Donald Trump’s second term. For many retied federal and state supreme courSocietyt judges, it was another example of the president’s assault on the judiciary and further erosion of the rule of law.”

3] ‘..some of them warn that Trump’s clashes with judges echo how leaders in foreign countries sought to undermine the strength of their courts – from right-wing court reforms in Hungary to attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to shift power away from the judiciary.”

5]. ‘…warned that the public often fails to see the consequences of a weakened rule of law and diminishing judicial branch until it is too late.”

7] “Although attacks on the judiciary aren’t new, the increased frequency and intensity could drive jurists from the bench earlier than in previous generations, the retired judges say.”

8]. “..threats against federal judges reached near-record levels in Fiscal Year 2025, according to data from the Marshall’s Service.”

10] “For decades, the Justice Department has been expected to function independently from theWhite House to ensure impartial decisions. But since taking office in early February, Attorney General Pam Bondi has….”

11]. “Bondi’s lieutenant, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, characterized the Justice Department’s relationship with the judiciary as an adversarial one at a Federalist Society conference earlier this month. “It is a war..”

12] “Many judges said one of the most harmful shifts away from procedural norms within the judicial branch stems from the Supreme Court’s increasing use of the emergency docket, also known as the “shadow docket.”

13] “The nation’s highest court has issued a historic rate of emergency orders throughout the second Trump administration.”

14] “The shift away from standard procedures in cases creates a trickle-down effect through the court system….lower courts are left scrambling to interpret how those orders may effect cases they are adjudicating.”

*** “The worst tyranny is that of misapplied laws.’ [ Metternich ]

***. “Those who suppress freedom always doso in the name of law and order.” [ John Lindsay ]


Team Right Wing might now be in the final stages of their 50-year campaign to undo the increasing perfection of American democracy, which peaked in the 1947-73 mass middle class prosperity inspired by New Deal programs and progressive court rulings. This was “too much democracy”. for theFAR RIGHT. A key, perhaps THE key, was appointing “conservative judges” beginning with Nixon; furthered by Reagan and Bush I, Bush II. AND – now America is cursed by Trumpism and all of its hangers-on. Many, but not all, “judges” and “justices” appointed by Trump have strong anti-democratic, plutocratic, theocratic leanings, which they have been imposing on YOU, YOUR children, YOUR grandchildren.

*** “You can only protect your liberties in this world by protecting the other man’s freedom. You can only be free if I am free.” [ Clarence Darrow ]

TEAM Right Wing Republican REACTIONARIES – CORRUPT Roberts ‘court” MAKES UP Another Decision

~ tomdolen

*** “It is a very dangerous doctrine to consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions. It is one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy.” [ Thomas Jefferson, 1820 letter ]

Increasingly, the CORRUPT 6-3 Reactionary Republican ‘supreme court” majority is demonstrating Jefferson’s fears. Consider their PATTERN ; Shelby County; refusal to oppose Gerrymandering – recognized for 200 years as an antidemocratic abomination; giving ANY president – let alone one D.J. Trump – “immunity” [if the Founders intended that, why is impeachment of a president in the Constitution???]; 9 months of “Shadow Docket” decisions allowing Trump’s dictatorial decisions; and now – removing injunctions by lower courts as a way of restraining Trump’s often BLATANT authoritarian decisions and actions.
This PATTERN is UNMATCHED in American legal history for its antidemocratic and unconstitutional scope and damage. With most other U.s. presidents, this would have been a lesser threat – with a deeply flawd person like Donald John Trump – possibly fatal to American rule of law and democracy.

*** “As a member of this Court, I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.: [Justice Felix Frankfurter]

Consider excerpts from “Ending Nationwide Injunctions Will Let Trump Do His Worst”. [Sabrina Haake; The Progressive Populist; August, 2025]

1]. “The partisan majority chose instead to strike nationwide injunctive relief, a disastrous ruling that gave Donald Trump the green light to continue sh*tting on the Constitution. As a 30-year federal litigator, I am outraged. I don’t see how the rule of law survives this decision, handed down when our executive is so clearly and demonstrably unhinged.”

2]. “What the Republican majority did was outrageous…they struck down nationwide injunctions, the main tool federal courts have used to stop Trump from bulldozing the Constitution…It gives Trump license to trammel every law, every clause, and every amendment in the Constitution.”

***. “A judge can’t have any agenda. A judge can’t have any preferred outcome in any particular case. And a judge certainly doesn’t have a client. The judge’s only obligation – and it’s a solemn obligation – is to the rule of law.” [Samuel A. Alito, Jr. – opening statement in his Senate confirmation hearing; January 9, 2006] !!!!!!!!!! [NOTE: YOU be the judge on whether “justice’ Alito has honored this pledge – any doubt/ – read “Dobbs”; study Alito’s PATTERN on the ‘court.”]

3] “Just as these same partisan hacks did in Dobbs to erase abortion rights that had been in existence for 50 years, Trump v. Casa erased the history of nationwide injunctions, by focusing on what happened in the 1700s and 1800s instead of our more recent, and relevant, history
“Nationwide injunctions have been used in the U.S. for over 100 years. They are the strongest and surest remedy to keep elected officials from violating federal law or the constitution. Now, in service to Trump, that remedy has been removed, and protection for the little guy has been erased.”

4]. “Everyone who wants to stop Trump from illegally harming them now has to sue, and appear personally before the court , or join a class action, which can take years to certify. I defended class actions for over 15 years – they are an expensive, time consuming and cumbersome way to try to fight back against the government.” [NOTE: this too, is a Roberts “court” PATTERN – on paper you have a right , but exercising it is made much more difficult]

*** “..;Thomas himself vowed on the day of his confirmation, at the age of forty-three, that he intended to spend the next forty-three years of his life as a Supreme Court Justice. It would take that long, he told friends, to get even.” [Jane Mayer, Jill Abrahamson: “Strange Justice,” page 360] [NOTE: YOU decide: has Clarence Thomas achieved his promise “..to get even.” ??????????]

5] “Sotomayor’s outrage is also palpable. She continues: “In partially granting the Government’s remarkable request, the Court distorts well-established equitable principles several times over.”

6]. “The Roberts court is well aware of what Trump is doing…They know exactly what is happening, but shamefully choose to look away and let Trump do his worst AFTER they gave him immunity to break criminal laws.”

***. “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]

7] “Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s dissent hit hard: “the Court’s decision to permit the Executive to violate the Constitution with respect to anyone who has not yet sued is an existential threat to the rule of law.”

***. “I have always thought that one of this Court’s most important roles is to provide a formidable bulwark against government violation of the constitutional safeguard securing in our free society the legitimate expectations of every person to innate human dignity and sense of worth.” [ Justice William Brennan ]

Ask YOURSELF: does the 20-year record of thre Roberts “court” uphold the Constitution’s requirements of “..establish Justice…promote the general Welfare..”??? The two BIG winners; corporations and the Religious Right. The Reactionary Republicans claim to be “originalists” or “textualists.” But their decisions aren’t. They’ve LIED, made up, misrepresented, ignored contrary evidence. They pick cases they can USE to aid the 50-year Right Wing agenda.

In 1947-73, America approached being a TRUE democracy, a mass middle class prosperous society. THEN – the Empire struck back. The Burger and Rehnquist “courts” chipped away. The Roberts ‘court” has, is, moving America toward the Far Right goal of a Theocratic Oligarchy, case – by – case.
Look at the RESULTS of major Roberts ‘court’ decisions in cases ‘big’ and ‘small.” The America of 2025 is a shadow of 1947-73 America economically, socially, politically, ethically – by DESIGN. The Roberts ‘court” has exacerbated America’s problems with virtually every major decision, and many ‘lesser” ones.
They’ve topped this off – so far – with making the ANTI-George Washington a virtual dictator, who issues one stupid, irrational, destructive order and decision after another.

***. “Power corrupts, and unrestricted power will tempt Supreme Court justices just as history tells us it has tempted other judges. For, unfortunately, judges have not been immune to the seductive influences of power, and given absolute or near absolute power, judges may exercise it to bring about changes that are inimical to freedom and good government.” [ Justice Hugo Black ]

Chief “justice” Roberts Complains About Disrespect For Judges…..

~ tomdolen


On December 31st, Roberts “issued a defense of judicial independence, which he said is under threat from intimidation, disinformation and the prospect of public officials defying court orders.” [“Judicial independence is under threat, Roberts says”; Lindsay Whitehurst; 1/2/25; Asoctd Press]

BUT – is THIS “supreme court” REALLY “independent”? We here begin to give YOU information to answer that question. Over the last 50 years, certain people and groups have worked to MAKE SURE this “supreme court” is NOT independent.
On PAPER, the Roberts “court” is “independent.” Americans are taught we have three independent branches. BUT – what if certain people and groups wanted to impose certain beliefs on YOU – which branch can act like dictators because they have the last word? Start thinking !!!!!!!!!!

*** Perhaps we should evaluate Roberts’ complaint in light of something Abraham Lincoln once said: “He reminds me of the man who murdered both his parents, and then, when sentence was about to be pronounced, pleaded for mercy on the grounds that he was an orphan.”

In his general remarks, Roberts had omissions and some giant holes in exactly WHO the guilty parties are. Reader of of daily news pretty much KNOW exactly WHO guilty groups and individuals are – by actions and rhetoric.
– THE leading individual is “our” recently elected president – one D.J. Trump, who blasts ANYBODY who doesn’t agree with him, support him, excuse him. How many of Trump’s 2016-2025 attacks on judges can YOU find???????
– THE leading groups attacking judges are almost all on the RIGHT, many on the FAR RIGHT. What does a search of 2016-2025 news media – the REAL media [NOT Fox “news,” hate radio, hate internet] show exactly WHO is threatening, killing judges?
– What are the REASONS, excuses, given for these attacks? How many line up with Trump and other FAR RIGHT ideology, rhetoric, actions?
– What rulings had judges just issued when they were threatened, attacked, killed?

*** “If we desire respect for the law, we must first make the law respectable.” [Justice Louis Brandeis]
*** “I am of opinion that a good Judiciary lends much to the dignity of a state and the happiness of the people…On the contrary a bad Judiciary involved in party business is the greatest Curse that can befall a Country.” [Andrew Jackson]
***. “As a member of this Court, I am not justified in writing my private notions of policy into the Constitution, no matter how deeply I may cherish them or how mischievous I may deem their disregard.” [Justice Felix Frankfurter]
*** “An unjust law is no law at all.” [St. Augustine]
***. “When we [Americans] talk about the rule of law, we assume that we’re talking about a law that promotes freedom, that promotes justice, that promotes equality.” [Justice Anthony Kennedy]

***!!!***!!!*** – NOW!!! – reread those 5 statements…..THEN!!! – apply them to what the Roberts “supreme court” has done to American law, 2005-2025. Does the Roberts “court” meet. ANY of these tests????????
***!!!***!!!*** – “justice” Clarence Thomas is famous for his “history and tradition” test and defense of Roberts “court’ decisions which HE wrote or agrees with – BIG PROBLEM! Reviewing the Roberts “court” record – how many, if. ANY, pass the “history and tradition” test? – NOT their gun rulings; NOT their LUDICROUS presidential immunity ruling; NOT most, if not all their religious “freedom” rulings; NOT their civil rights rulings; NOT their corporate “rights’ rulings

WHY has American confidence in “our” judicial system and courts dropped to a record low of 35%. Perhaps, as reported by CommonCause: “Supreme Court justices just got the green light to continue being wined and dined by billionaires, special interests, and big corporations – and now they don’t even have to disclose most of it to the public! Recently weakened disclosure rules now make it even easier for wealthy donors to secretly buy influence over the Supreme Court.” YOU think just maybe Americans are just a little offended by this? Do “we” have an “independent” “court” if billionaires can freely and easily influence it??????????

Roberts mentioned “Brown vs. Board of Education” – QUESTION – is there ANY Roberts “court” decision that is remotely of the caliber of “Brown” for doing what Justice Kennedy said above: “promote freedom, promote justice, promote equality” – for ALL Americans?????????

Roberts mentioned the problem. He ignored the CAUSES, principle among them Roberts “court” rulings and damage to America caused and often LUDICROUS/false “justifications” or MAKING UP stuff; the presence, rhetoric, actions of one D.J. Trump; the oligarchic billionaires influence; the Christian Nationalists influence; the Federalist Society influence

All this and much more is well recognized in MAINSTREAM legal circles and analysis. Read: “The Agenda..How A Republican Supreme Court is Reshaping America,” Ian Millhiser; “Worse Than Nothing..The Dangerous Fallacy Of Originalism,” Erwin Chemerinsky; “The Originalism Trap,” Madiba Dennie; “The Scheme,” Senator Sheldon Whitehouse; “Stench..The Making of the Thomas Court and The Unmaking of America,” David Brock; “Uncertain Justice,” Laurence Tribe & Joshua Matz; “The Fall of Roe,” Elizabeth Dias & Lisa Lerer

“…in understanding just how unmoored – and how dangerous – the United States Supreme Court has become…growing awareness of the decisive role that a clandestine network led by Leonard Leo and the Federalist Society has played not only in handpicking President Trump’s selections to the Supreme Court, in return for securing the Religious Right voting bloc for Trump…but also installing five extremist justices over 30 years. Each of these 5 has been indelibly tainted…and unprecedented and unconstitutional moves by a GOP Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, determined to pack the courts to keep campaign cash flowing from GOP megadonors with interests before them.”
“Leonard Leo’s theocratic project – which seized on an existing Federalist Society scheme to remake the judiciary in its own extremist image…was developed and undertaken as a natural outgrowth of Leo’s friendship with Clarence Thomas…Leo had other influential close friends..but the increasingly aggressiveness of the anonymously funded hive he built was encouraged and assisted by Thomas..the evidence was overwhelming that all 5 of the extreme justices this right-wing conspiracy has installed blatantly lacked legitimacy..and the deeper underlying truth that their presence on the court amounted to one of the more blatant and dangerous power grabs in U.S. history.”

Among forces seeking to influence, control, intimidate “our’ “supreme court”:
1]. The FEDERALIST SOCIETY
A} “justices” Alito, Thomas, Scalia, Roberts have “well-documented and long-lasting ties” to the Society
B] Federalist Society co-founder Steven Calabresi: the Federalist Society has “absolutely” helped keep Justices such as Scalia, Thomas, Roberts, and Alito “in check..” – as in / influence, intimidation, control?????
C]. “[T]he Federalist Society has a defacto monopoly on the credentialing of rising stars..on the left there are a million ways of getting credentialed; on the political right, there’s only one way in these legal circles.” [Fed. Soc. member Michael Greve; 2/12/08]. [Amanda Hollis-Brusky; “Ideas
With Consequences”]

2] The Federalist Society
A] “A measure of the success of the Federalist Society is that the current Supreme Court can generally be relied upon to protect business interests against legislation designed to protect workers, consumers, and the environment; to halt the judicial expansion of personal liberty interests while expanding judicial protection of property interests; to interpret a “colorblind” Constitution by rolling back affirmative action and school desegregation doctrines; and to weaken the boundaries between church and state.” [you MUST research Leonard Leo – master builder & facilitator]
B] “The available data demonstrates that the Federalist Society strategy of changing the law by changing the judges is working….a study of decisions reached by judges who are members of the Federalist Society demonstrated convincingly that such judges are significantly more conservative than nonmembers appointed by Republican presidents.” [Michael Avery & Danielle McLaughlin: “The Federalist Society”]

3] ‘DARK MONEY’
If YOU are at all aware of the MASSIVE flood of “dark money” into American government – greatly aided by the Roberts ‘court” infamous ‘Citizens United” ruling!!! – thenYOU should be aware of billionaire/centi-millionaire “dark money” being ‘INVESTED’ [!!!!!!!!!] in American law schools [“law & economics curricula]; in “training’ seminars for sitting judges [which influence their rulings!!!]; in campaigns to get the “RIGHT” judges/justices appointed/elected. The money and gifts DOCUMENTED to have been showered on Clarence Thomas alone by billionaires should be sufficient to prove this FACT [ for example, se. $260,000 luxury R.V. !!!!!!!!! – discussed by Brock]

4] Christian Nationalists
A] Read “One Nation Under God..How Corporate America Invented Christian America” [Kevin Kruse] or James Marone’s book review “Holier Than Thou” [Foreign Affairs; July/August, 2015]: business began to USE religion in the 1930s, “..corporate titans enlisted conservative clergymen in an effort to promote new political arguments embodied in the phrase “freedom under God.”…this new ideology was designed to defeat the state power its architects feared most..Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal…With ample funding from major corporarions, prominent industrialists, and business lobbies…”

January 6, 2021 – Read “Preparing For War..The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism – And what Comes Next” [Bradley Onishi]; doing research, “..two things become evident: First, religious symbols were everywhere – rioters carrying crosses and icons of Mary, tough guys wearing Bible verses stitched onto chest patches declaring war on god’s enemies, people breaking out into impromptu worship songs, the Proud Boys, kneeling and praying together in a circle before violently overtaking law enforcement to enter the Capitol. Second, White Christian nationalism was a major unifying phenomenon among the insurrectionists.”

Read “American Theocracy,’ Kevin Phillips. “Thy Kingdom Come..HOw the Religious Right Distorts the Faith and Threatens America,” Randall Balmer; “The Theocons..Secular America Under Siege,’ Damon linker; “The Power Worshippers,” Katherine Stewart. Plus, one organization exists almost solely to expose how some religions are trying to impose their beliefs on YOU: Americans United for Separation of Church and State. they publish a monthly magazine, “Church & State,’ increasingly with articles on how Christian Nationalists are threatening to successfully turn America into a plutocratic theocracy run by THEM; also stories about how people like YOU have theirs lives turned upside down by a variety of religious right-wing fanatics.

More than once – the current 6 Republican “justices” on our “supreme court” have been labeled Christian Nationalists themselves. Examining their rulings on “religious rights” cases forcing YOU to support churches you DON’T attend; imposing their own documented “conservative’ religious beliefs on YOU; etc. -should indicate this charge is true.

*** SO – THE question for YOU – when chief “justice’ Roberts complained about threats to judicial independence – he wanted YOU to accept the ASSUMPTION. American courts now, over the last 50 years of RIGHT-WING manipulation – REALLY are “independent. From the BEGINNING evidence above, can YOU accept what has happened to the American judicial system since 1970 has REALLY created an “independent” judiciary???
Yes, threats to judges are real – but by whom? There’s no question the perps of these threats intend to make YOUR court system even less democratic.

*** “Only governments and..courts remained sources of authority, if enacted, Charle’s [Koch] ‘libertarian policies would eliminate these.’ …”He was driven..to smash the one thing left in the world that could discipline him: the government.” [
[ Clayton Coppin]
*** “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]

Trump – How. To. Evaluate???

~ tomdolen

To evaluate ANY president – look to the Constitution’s Preamble:
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common Defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure
the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the United States of America.”

ALL actions by a President Trump, or ANY president, must lead to and contribute to “Union..Justice…
Tranquility..provide for the common Defence..promote the general Welfare.”

SO – in Trump’s first term, did putting three rigidly “conservative” zealot “justices” on the already ethically challenged Roberts “court” lead to decisions that, in “justice” Thomas’ words, “follow the traditions and history” of America?
For example – where in 1787-2005 American “traditions and history” is there ANY suggestion the Founding Fathers did, or would have, ever EVEN considered giving any president ‘IMMUNITY’ for any actions he/she took? Why does Article II, Section 4, contain these words: “The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States. shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and convicted of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” ???
If. ANY. president could be impeached – then why would the Founding Fathers give him/her ANY form of “immunity”? If they thought a president should be like a king, having immunity protection from his own citizens – then there’d be no impeachment possibility, right?????

How can we have “no man is above the law” – and give any president immunity??? How can we have a “democracy”. where “our” leaders have ANY form of immunity?????

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

In his first term, Trump pushed 2017 tax cuts for the rich and corporations – which resulted in a 25% national debt increase. Now Trump wants to renew this obscenely anti-democratic and budget-busting act. Somebody, please, explain to me, how does cutting taxes on the rich and KNOWINGLY increasing the national debt do ANYTHING to “..promote the general Welfare..” ????????

Trump says [November 25th] he’ll pardon people convicted of participating in the l/6/21 attack on the U.S. Capitol “within hours of his inauguration.” Somebody, please, explain to me, how this helps “..establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..” if people can, at will, invade and trash the U.S. Capitol, injure 140 police and cause police deaths, trying to prevent Congress from doing its duty on the 2020 election. Hundreds of INSURRECTIONISTS. have been convicted by “juries of their peer” all over America. What am I missing here. – what does Donald J. Trump “know” that neither i, nor legal scholars, know of the Constitution and Founding Father intent ???????????

If Trump imposes “sweeping tariffs” on all Canadian products, Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government [12/12/24] said it is considering restricting exports of critical minerals, restricting electricity exports to Michigan, New York, and Minnesota – adding this would make electricity unaffordable for Americans. “If you put a 25% tariff on oil from Alberta that increases every gallon of gasoline by one dollar,” Ford said.
So – how does imposing 25% tariff increases on Canada help to “..promote the general Welfare..” by a president who. repeatedly in his 2024 election campaign promised to cut inflation and reduce costs for Americans??? What does Trump “know’ about economics numerous professors and Nobel Prize winners don’t ?????????

Trump has nominated a well known vaccine skeptic to lead thenDepartment of Health and Human Services. What does RFK, Jr. “know” about vaccines General Washington didn’t know when he ordered his Revolutionary War soldiers to be vaccinated against small pox??? What does RFK, Jr. “know” about vaccines research scientist Jonas Salk didn’t when he developed the polio vaccine in 1953, saving the lives and health of millions of American children???????

How doers Trump’s pick for new FBI Director, who has vowed to fire the agency’s leadership and dramatically reshape its mission “..establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility…promote the general Welfare..” ?????? How does virtually destroying one of the world’s top law enforcement agencies accomplish this??? How does this keep the FBI an independent agency, a non-political agency ??? Does putting a Trump “loyalist” in charge of America’s top law enforcement agency make them Trump’s personal secret police [like Russia, China, Iran, etc.]??? Is America going to return to the Nixon era FBI, where the FBI Director destroys incriminating documents, and lawbreakers like a president who broke federal law taking top secret documents to his private mansion [unsecured!] go unpunished???

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

As far as billionaires cutting $2 trillion from YOUR government’s budget, consider: “The plans for the Department of Government Efficiency laid out by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are so riddled with legal problems hat a law professor in exam season could save a lot of time by using their recent Wall Street Journal op-ed as the fact pattern: All you’d have to do would be to ask students to identify the constitutional flaws.” [Harvard law professor Noah Feldman; l2/8/24; “The Supreme Court won’t save Musk’s DOGE plans”]: “..the piece de resistance is the idea..the president can simply choose not to spend money..Congress has appropriated..This absurd notion violates the basic text of the Constitution…violates a federal statute, the Impoundment Control Act of 1974..violates Supreme Court precedent..”
A “normal,” law-abiding president wouldn’t consider this, BUT – one with “supreme court” blessed “immunity”. [ignoring ordinary people like YOU]. can try this. Especially one who wants to cut taxes on people – like Musk and Ramaswamy and himself, on billionaires who contributed to his election.

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

Tariffs, like the post-1980 Republican tax cuts for the already obscenely rich, shift the cost of American civilization away from billionaires – to. – ordinary people like YOU; blow up the national debt [ from less than $1 trillion in 1980 to about $35 trillion in 2024] – which then can be used by the rich as an excuse for austerity. The choice should now be clear to YOU. – if America doesn’t tax ALL wealth equitably [see Adam Smith on taxing the rich proportionally!!!] [ then things like Social Security and Medicare will HAVE to be cut.

What am I “missing’ here? – this post says Trump II has the potential to destroy American democracy. – because just these here, let alone all other items in the 900-page FAR RIGHT WISH LIST: “Project 2025”. are intended to FINALIZE America’s transformation into a theocratic plutocracy. [. we are ALREADY several steps into this ]

Fellow Americans. – yxou tell me. – reading again the Constitution’s Preamble. – how much, if ANYTHING, in what Trump has already hinted at, said he’d do. – achieves. “..a more perfect Union, establish{es} Justice. insure[s] domestic Tranquility, provide[s] for the common defence [letting the Russians destroy Ukraine], promote[s] the general Welfare..” ?????

It’s ALREADY starting: Trump is WAFFLING. on his many promises to stop inflation and reduce YOUR grocery bills: “From the day I take the oath of office, we’ll rapidly drive down prices and make America affordable again.” [North Carolina speech]. NOW, after YOU elected him to do this, he says it will be “very hard” to do !!!!!!!!!!!!!
BECAUSE – reducing YOUR grocery bills will hurt the millionaires, monopolies, “margins” of Trump’s secret funders and Wall Street expectations
Brace YOURSELF – YOU’RE going to get another 4 years of this. – UNLESS YOU, YOU !!!!! raise holy hell with Republican Congress members, threaten to vote them out in 2026 – and then. DO. IT !!!

Promises made during elections by presidents with lifetime “immunity” against YOU; especially one with a history of 35,XXX known lies, do not uphold what America’s Constitution says, what our Founding Fathers intended. – NOT if America is to remain a “democracy.”

*** “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” [James Madison, Federalist. #47}
[Trumpism has NOW achieved Madison’s fears – controlling thr House, Senate, president, “supreme court”. – an “immune’ president, a CORRUPT “supreme court” [ perhaps THE most corrupt in American history], hundreds of COMIC BOOK “loyalist” characters in Congress, and appointed into “your” government}

Trumpism – and a May 21, 2022 letter

~ tomdolen

My friends, this message is in your hands because – I greatly fear for America. For some of you, this will be a difficult thing to read. I only ask is that you think on what is being said – mostly not by me
Increasingly, people of good intent are saying things we never would have thought: an increasing number of people are expressing doubts about democracy as a concept, about America as a country. Most important here: WHY? are they saying this?
I offer here some topics for you to think on:
1] Truth – in recent years/decades, the very idea of “truth” has become negotiable. Some insisting there are always, “two sides of the story.” NO, sometimes there aren’t. It is a strategy used by authoritarians: muddy the waters, get people confused. Putin is the master of this. This is “the tobacco defense.” Trump did/does it – the “stolen election” mantra is only what he’d done his entire post-age 10 life.
2] Faith in government – it has been a deliberate strategy for some on the political-economic “right’ to sabotage faith in American government. WHY? Because people of power don’t need government. Former Koch employees have publicly said: Charles Koch wanted to crush government because it was the ONLY thing on earth restraining him. For over 60 years, people like those in the John Birch Society have pushed this. Reagan then made it “respectable” to say government was the problem, not the solution.
3] Changing the rules. This, at bottom, is issue #1. Starting with big corporations around 1970 – the economic right decided they didn’t want to share America’s wealth with their workers. They began to attack and weaken ANY union. They moved jobs to “right to work” states, then Mexico, then S.E. Asia, finally China. Unions lost the ability to strike. The current, greatest force: the CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “supreme court.” R-W legal groups find ‘perfect test cases,’ then run them up “the conveyor belt” of Mitch McConnell constructed ‘conservative’ courts, to the CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “supreme court.” Presto! that kangaroo group CHANGES THE RULES.
4] The CORRUPT McConnell/Roberts “court.” If you believe anything other than those 6 “justices” are on that “court” to do anything but CHNAGE THE RULES, you are a lot more trusting, possibly naive, than I think. We have the quotes, confessions, actions, etc. that, since 1968, this IS THE INTENT. Research the major McConnell/Roberts “court’ decisions. the PATTERN is that [before the 3 current religion cases] “religious right” groups have a 90% win rate. The McConnell/Roberts “court” is THE most “business-friendly” “court” since 1945. Roberts came on the “court” with 2 agendas: race and religion. [**** note: this is before Senator Sheldon Whitehouses”s “The Scheme”. about the CORRUPT Roberts “court” was published – it revealed “the Roberts Five” had a 73-0 record on ideological cases!!!]
5]. Economic Inequality – this is a major cancer for America. From 1789-1980, virtually every generation did better than their parents. Since 1970, this has been DELIBERATELY sabotaged. Please read Wilkinson & Pickett”s. “The Spirit Level,” or Joe Stiglitz” “The Price of Inequality” [Nobel Prize winner], or Pulitzer Prize winner David Cay Johnston’s “Divided. The Perils of Our Growing Inequality.” OR – you can research pre- and post-1980 [unspun] IRS income stats. ANY economy in which a high school grad can not thrive, support their family, is IMMORAL.
6]. The internet. – If I had my way, humans would NEVER think of this concept. I understand most of you are on it, for “normal” activities, of pleasure and business. YOU are NOT the problem The idealistic goals of internet creators have been shattered by the criminal use of it. The I-net is now used by organized crime gangs, by terrorists, by racists, by scam artists. they are undermining the basic concepts of law and order, of honesty in business, of simple human decency, of democratic government. The I-net is ruled by rumors, deliberate lies, monstrous falsehoods, etc. – all sabotaging human civilization. [*** note; this ignored the use if the I-net for political purposes – mainly the spreading of BIG lies, debunked rumors, etc – the 2024 election was DETERMINED by I-net falsehoods & blatant lies]
7] The South – is and always has been – a cancer on America. It has NEVER outlived the use of slavery, then KKK and Jim Crow, now discrimination. think on this: from 1830-1860, 300 WHITES were lynched in the South, others “run out of town” [literally], tarred & feathered – because – they made the mistake of not supporting slavery. this anti-Black discrimination also covered “poor white trash” and now ALL who live there. the South is THE most backward region – health-wise, education-wise, economically [see “The Spirit Level”]. The South now has outsized influence on ALL American culture and politics – largely negative [see recent Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida laws].
[*** 176 Electoral College votes of Trump’s 300 plus came from the old 1861-65 Confederacy; the South is the center of anti-abortion laws and other “Christian Nationalist” cultural laws***]
8] World War II – and – China. America was on the winning side of WW II because of British courage, 27 million dead Russians, and the American economy buried the Nazis and Japanese on tidal waves of equipment. America won the Cold War because the Russians couldn’t keep up with the American economy. We can’t fight the Chinese – they have our industry. The Chinese broke an international treaty of 50 years in half that time in Hong Kong – the response of American industry was to ignore that – BIG MESSAGE to the world. If then, they had done what they’re doing in Russia, maybe…. But – the GREED of the top 1% owned “American” corporations is such they couldn’t/won’t – too many profits. American jobs are in china so “American” corporations can dodge taxes, regulations, living wages for American workers – we have the quotes, confessions, etc. by the perps.
9]. Housing – is a symbol of what hedge fund-private equity-secret anonymous shell companies have done to ordinary Americans. They are. IMMORAL. They’ll do. ANYTHING. to make a profit – and have done it. Now, multiple stories and sources are reporting on this. The latest is today’s Minneapolis Star-Tribune story on real people in Duluth fighting against these funds of “investors’ buying up housing there for “vacation rentals.” A real estate agent told me that in some Minneapolis neighborhoods – 50% – of the housing was owned by these groups. A recent PBS, and also CBS, stories – discussed how “investors” have been buying up housing from Calif – to – the Atlantic in the southern half of the USA – then jacking up the cost of housing. You’ll be reading more stories like this. If. EVERYTHING. is “commodified” – for sale – what of America is left?
10] Guns. Research what the Founders INTENDED: Articles of Confederation, Article VI [“..every state shall always kep a well regulated & disciplined militia..”]; Madison’s original – 3 part – draft for the Second Amendment – pay special attention to the 3rd phrase [..’but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service.”]; the Senate changed Madison’s word order – so “A well-regulated militia..” came FIRST; the 1792 [May 3 & 8] Militia Acts [read it ALL: the DUTY of 18-45 white males, military ranks, care for the wounded & disabled].
The 2nd Amendment, and all others, was passed on December 15, 1791 – the 1791 Militia Acts were passed within 5 months. Do you think, just maybe, these two were connected? Check the rules of grammar – since when does one get the full meaning of a sentence [2nd Amendment] by reading half of it???
There were at least 5 Supreme Court rulings, 1789 – 1939, that the 2nd Amendment was to protect citizens having guns for MILITARY reasons, so the 48 states would have their own military forces – as a political measure.

Most of you are over age 50. You’ve been around enough. America, 2022, is not what America was earlier, especially if you lived 1947-1973. that innocence is gone. That faith in “the system” has been sabotaged. SO – WHO are the winners?

For some of you this will be difficult – for the first time in American 1789 – history, we have a major political party that is – steadily, especially since 1980, sliding towards many un-democratic thoughts and actions. For the first time in American 1789 – history, we have a major political party that is all but owned by two groups: its billionaire donors and its religious voters.
People within this party have publicly confessed: what were formerly “fringe” ideas are now driving this party’s discussions and policies. Research the “14 characteristics of fascism” – how many, honestly, o YOU see as here or beginning to creep into American talks and policies? – Be honest – what do the facts – what exists – tell you?
WHY did some “American” conservatives” recently go to Hungary for their annual convo? WHO else was there? Why have some praised Hungary’s dictator? Why have some praised Putin? Why do some praise Putin a s an example of “Christian faith? [***note: can you conceive of Americans praising Joe Stalin ???]
If you examine laws passed in regressive states – mostly the South – what PATTERNS jump out to you? Who are the “winners” and “losers” of those laws? How do these laws measure up to basic American principles expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution’s Preamble, let alone things said by the Founders, Lincoln, Supreme Court giants?
There is NO joy in this letter. Recent events have revealed a very dark side of this blessed nation. America is no longer the heirs of the Founders – Scandinavia is, Canada is.
I greatly fear for my children and granddaughters. Please think on what I’ve said; think if it is time for good people like you to act, to speak out.


So – here we are, it is Tuesday, November 26, 2024 – little, if anything worried about or discussed above has changed – in fact, much of it has gotten worse. The 2024 election had much hatred, lies, fear, misinformation, racism, misogyny either blatantly said – or unspoken, but in people’s minds.
Democracy is fragile – we are now, in 2024-2029, about to find out exactly how. We are going to find out if the American people are willing to fight to keep the democratic gains of 1900 forward – or meekly let them be taken away. We are going to find out if “divide and conquer” will work. We are going to find out if America is a “democracy” – or, if the Right Wing goal of a plutocratic theocracy has now been achieved.
We are already disgraced – we have elected THE anti-George Washington president – in spite of his own voters admitting he IS a despicable person, but they think he’ll “make America great again’ – against all evidence from his first term , and his 2021 rhetoric and actions
“Our” government is now in the hands of people who don’t believe in it – indeed, apparently, they intend to weaken or destroy it – if you haven’t, find critical analysis of “PROJECT 2025 – the blueprint of a Right-Wing think tank – on how the new Trump administration can do this, or “as some are saying’ the “Mein Kampf of what the Right Wing wants to do TO America.
Time is getting short. You may want to think if 2024 is the last REAL election.”