"That could never happen here."
And yet, what we are seeing develop, before our very eyes, is a dictatorship using the very limits of government that are provided by the Constitution, subverting the freedoms that it guarantees. And some of the safeguards that we thought we've always had in place to prevent this from happening have eroded away. The Supreme Court is corrupt, and has been turned into just one more partisan branch of government with six justices hand picked by the Heritage Foundation. Did we ever think we would see the day when we would let one political party actually steal a seat on the court, by preventing the other party from nominating someone because it was too close to an election, and then, turn in a gigantic deceptive hypocritical act by stealing another one by letting a lame duck make an appointment just months before another election?
Or, perhaps more significant, that no one saw it coming, even after one of the far right's talk radio prophets, Rush Limbaugh, laid out this plan years ago, and then pushed and promoted it from behind his microphone.
Elections have consequences. One of the steps in this process was the slow, steady push from the right to get control of state legislatures. Democrats can turn out in big enough numbers to elect candidates like Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and Joe Biden in those big Presidential election years, but they have made a habit of ignoring the midterms, off years and state level elections, and as a result, they let Republicans get control of most of the governorships and state legsilatures, where congressional district lines are drawn and where state court justices are appointed, or nominated for election.
Each of the last three Democrats who have served as President, going back to Clinton, lost control of Congress after the first two years of their term in office, and never got it back. As a result, we lost the ability to appoint at least two more justices to the Supreme Court, and the GOP has blocked or slowed down hundreds of others. The result is that we have one of the most corrupt Supreme Courts we have ever seen, and one of the most partisan, whose rulings have pushed the Heritage Foundation's right wing Christian nationalist agenda right along.
Combine that with a lack of boldness, and risk-taking on the part of Democrats, who still think that playing by old school political protocols will make the idea of compromise work for them, and we are right here now, with a demagogue in the White House, a grifter, con-artist, pathological liar and convicted felon who is the tool being used to subvert and destroy American democracy. We can't even be certain, after eight years of his babbling about rigged and stolen elections, that this last one is an accurate representation of the "will of the people."
Most of our news media, which is a billionaire owned corporate industry now, and hasn't been a free press for most of my adult life, doesn't challenge the corruption, and often doesn't even report it. Those who swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, because they were elected or appointed to the office and responsibility they hold, are content to protect their own turf, and aren't interested in taking the bold risks that are neccessary to set things straight, and are simply observing years of dedicated commitment to ensuring "the pursuit of happiness" go right down the drain. It will take years to undo the damage that has been done up to this point.
And patriotic Americans who love this country because of the freedoms it guarantees to its citizens, and for providing life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in a way that no where else in the world does, have to sit and watch it be dismantled, while it seems that there isn't anyone in a position of power, who swore an oath to protect and defend the Constitution, who is doing everything they can to legally try to get this demagogue out of the White House.
Some People Deserve Credit for Taking a Stand
There's no doubt that this President has not only challenged the limits of Presidential constitutional authority, but he has broken it. We've all heard it from his critics. They know. And yet, people who have taken an oath to protect and defend the Constitution are doing little more than pointing it out, complaining about it and letting it go otherwise. No one seems to know who has the authority to to anything effective, or they are lacking the boldness to take the risk to call it out and try to make it happen within the rule of law.
I deeply appreciate some individuals in the media who have become the unlikely, but most prolific and accurate defenders of the America that most of us know and love, and want back. I'm going to give credit to them, because they are among the few who are still carrying this torch, and who don't appear to be backing down in the face of this fascist attack and this grifting, corrupt, demented dictator in the White House.
A lot of people think of Stephanie Miller as political comedy, more than political commentary, and in spite of everything that is happening, she has kept up the ability to laugh at things, when appropriate, and when that is the way to handle something that just can't be handled any other way. In addition to telling the truth, and putting things in their exact and correct perspective, she brings a measure of sanity and lightheartedness to what is becoming a really bad time. Every day that I turn the radio on, and hear her show start up on my way to work, is a day of assurance that free speech still exists and I know I am going to hear something I need to hear to get through the rest of the day.
Thom Hartmann is a serious commentator who doesn't soft-pedal the bad news and who, through the wide variety of people who call in and comment on his program, tells it like it is. It's bad news, here's exactly what is happening, no exaggeration, that's the way it is, and here is what we can realistically do about it. If some of our political leadership on the left had taken seriously the comments they've heard him make, along with the backing of those in his audience who are the people out here in that experience, they might actually be taking a few more risks to protect what we have before we do lose it all. There are those with the power to take this away from us, and they are doing it, and knowing that should be motivation to take the steps we need to take to stop it. Thom's not afraid to let people say what's on their mind, and from that, understand there are possibilities and we have hope.
When my alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m., the radio stays on and tuned in to Richard Chew on Chicago's WCPT talk radio. Richard is another commentator, a local guy, who also tells it like it is, doesn't mince words, and is bold enough to let us know that facing down fascism is not only possible, but necessary, and it can work. I think one of the most empowering things we have, as opposition to the Trumpism that is destroying everything that is American freedom, is the experience that black Americans have had in fighting against white supremacy. That kind of bigotry is a core element of the MAGA movement and of the Heritage Foundation brand of Christian nationalism. That's a strength that I believe will prove to be neccessary in any successful elimination of MAGA extremism from this country.
We are fortunate, in Illinois, to have a state legislature that insulates us from a lot of MAGA craziness, and a governor in J. B. Pritzker who is one of the few politicians, along with California governor Gavin Newsom, that have the boldness and are willing to take the risks to stand up to Trump and his fully incompetent administration. Politics being what it is, they are, of course, open to allegations that what they are doing is politically motivated by personal ambition, rather than patriotism. But the fact of the matter is that defending everything that this country once stood for is risky, when it comes to politics, and if their motivation was only because of personal ambition, they would not be taking the political risks, and in fact, the potential risks to their own personal safety and that of their families, if they were only concerned about advancing their own political career. They're both wealthy enough to live comfortably otherwise, and not bother with it if it didn't mean something more to them.
Where we need the coordinated effort is in Democratic party congressional leadership. Frankly, being resigned to being in the minority combined with "we can't do anything about it" is not a strategy that is going to work to save this country. It's election season as usual, with appeals to give money, give more money, and give some more money to my campaign. Well, let me tell you, as a Democratic party voter, my small, but regular monthly giving has been redirected to a few places where it seems to be more effective in combatting the real danger at hand than in simply supporting the old status quo. David Hogg and Leaders We Deserve is a worthy political cause as far as I'm concerned. And Bernie Sanders, who has seen what this is and has been fighting it as long as anyone is also getting part of my small monthly gift.
Take a look at what the people I've mentioned here are saying, every single day. They are telling it like it is, and they have the facts to support what they're saying. This is what the American free press now looks like. This is who is actually defending American Constitutional Democracy against the demagogue in the White House.
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