I know, way too much to type out here today. I was looking through a box lot at an auction and found this mug, which is relevant to the thread after she voted for these assholes.

And just as significantly, the SC has now handed over power to the states in terms of combating climate change, meaning, they've handed over power to extraordinarily backwards forces hellbent on ignoring empirical reality in preference for their contrived fantasies.

Indeed, this latest move to side with fossil fuel corporations should be leading to many regarding SCOTUS as illegitimate and corrupt. But too many flag-shaggers and bedsheet wearers have now crawled out from under their stones.

It's definitely leading many to regard this as a kangaroo court, but again, we only have one choice to vote for, and the Democrats have been clownishly feckless in solving the problem. What good are the norms and traditions such as the filibuster and holding the court to 9, if it's destroying the country and by means of emissions, messing up the whole the world? Ranked choice voting in Maine is such an improvement as to enabling 3rd parties, but we only have 2 us reps and they're still Democrats. We do have an independent senator, but he's more a centrist than progressive. So it hasn't proved very fruitful yet in that regard. But it's kept the Republicans at bay, Collins notwithstanding. I'm certainly a lot more enthusiastic about voting since I can vote for true progressives and still choose Democrats as my second choice, so I'm not "wasting" a vote and handing the election to right wing candidates. It can only help asfai can tell. Will it happen nationally? Not with a filibuster and kangaroo supreme court.

I agree - it's an impossible situation.

The idea of simply adding to the SC to get the outcome you want is a terrible precedent.

On the other hand, this generation has to deal with carbon induced climate change else future generations will pay dearly for our failures.

Ugh, we stupid fucking monkeys just can't get our acts together.

I am sure there always were counter forces in every golden age, and the power and dramatic effect of this may mean the counter forces end up being just as powerful and dramatic.

ETA: I meant to post this on the Supreme Court Watch thread.

!	GENERAL MODNOTE Moved by Mod service activated

Judicial coup in progress.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically change how federal elections are conducted. At issue is a legal theory that would give state legislatures unfettered authority to set the rules for federal elections, free of supervision by the state courts and state constitutions.

The theory, known as the "independent state legislature theory," stems from the election clause in Article I of the Constitution. It says, "The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof."

Proponents of the theory argue that that clause gives state legislatures power to regulate federal elections uninhibited by state courts or state constitutions. If a majority of the Supreme Court agrees, that would hamstring state courts, removing judicial oversight of state elections.

NPR: Supreme Court to take on controversial election-law case

Spearthrower wrote:I agree - it's an impossible situation.

The idea of simply adding to the SC to get the outcome you want is a terrible precedent.

On the other hand, this generation has to deal with carbon induced climate change else future generations will pay dearly for our failures.

Ugh, we stupid fucking monkeys just can't get our acts together.

I am sure there always were counter forces in every golden age, and the power and dramatic effect of this may mean the counter forces end up being just as powerful and dramatic.

I heard court expansion rationalized like this (I think it was Beau of the Fifth Column) - If Dems add justices we can stem the bleeding right now, and if Republicans add more when they are in power, we're right back where we started. In other words, the worst case scenario is already happening right now. I can't think of a better idea. I like the idea ofa large supreme court because any one justice's vote won't have so much weight, it dilutes their power.

The_Piper wrote:

Spearthrower wrote:I agree - it's an impossible situation.

The idea of simply adding to the SC to get the outcome you want is a terrible precedent.

On the other hand, this generation has to deal with carbon induced climate change else future generations will pay dearly for our failures.

Ugh, we stupid fucking monkeys just can't get our acts together.

I am sure there always were counter forces in every golden age, and the power and dramatic effect of this may mean the counter forces end up being just as powerful and dramatic.

I heard court expansion rationalized like this (I think it was Beau of the Fifth Column) - If Dems add justices we can stem the bleeding right now, and if Republicans add more when they are in power, we're right back where we started. In other words, the worst case scenario is already happening right now. I can't think of a better idea. I like the idea ofa large supreme court because any one justice's vote won't have so much weight, it dilutes their power.

As well as mitigating the chaos that arises when one of them croaks.

Make them retire before geriatric. Make it more a job and less a judicial junta.

chango369 wrote:Judicial coup in progress.

The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case that could dramatically change how federal elections are conducted. At issue is a legal theory that would give state legislatures unfettered authority to set the rules for federal elections, free of supervision by the state courts and state constitutions.

The theory, known as the "independent state legislature theory," stems from the election clause in Article I of the Constitution. It says, "The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof."

Proponents of the theory argue that that clause gives state legislatures power to regulate federal elections uninhibited by state courts or state constitutions. If a majority of the Supreme Court agrees, that would hamstring state courts, removing judicial oversight of state elections.

NPR: Supreme Court to take on controversial election-law case

So the USA is now heading toward the enactment of its own Enabling Act?

Given the mischief the Rethuglicon Party has engaged in without such a measure in place, the USA will be heading for one party fascist dictatorship at warp speed once this is in place.

EDIT: apposite observations include those from here:

It’s based on biblical literalism, a fundamentalist Christian fanatical movement.

We’re being hurled back decades, if not centuries, to be honest,” Das said, later adding: “They’re really trying to transform society to one that’s dominated on the basis of white supremacy, male supremacy, Christian supremacy. It’s very dangerous.

The decision to side with polluters over the public will cost American lives and cause an enormous amount of preventable suffering, with the biggest burden falling on low-income communities and communities of color,

and from here, we have:

Robert P Jones, founder and chief executive of the Public Religion Research Institute thinktank in Washington, said: “What we’re seeing is a desperate power grab as the sun is setting on white Christian America. In the courts, instead of moving slowly and systematically, it’s a lurch.”

Jones added: “In the meantime we’re going to be left with essentially an apartheid situation in the US where we’re going to have minority rule by this shrinking group that’s been able to seize the levers of power, even as their cultural democratic representation in the country shrinks.”

Rachel Laser, president of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, which represented the school board in the case, said the separation was “under complete attack” by the supreme court as it favours the free exercise clause at the expense of the establishment clause, thereby raising the specter of religious favoritism.

“We are at risk of taking away the religious freedom of vast numbers of Americans, which should make the founders of our country be doing somersaults in their grave and I’m sure is alarming to the world as a whole, because they see America as a beacon of light when it comes to religious freedom.”

“This is a backlash that is meant to reinforce and cement existing power structures into our law, and it panders to a white Christian right extremist agenda. It’s incredibly divisive. It’s dangerous to our democracy in that regard.”

In short, SCOTUS is now a theocracy enabler.

What we’re seeing is a desperate power grab as the sun is setting on white Christian America.

This is exactly it.

The shit show the majority have been presenting this week has been 'because we can', misrepresentations and made-up nonsense.
If they were originalists wouldn't Thomas and Crony-Barret have been summarily ejected in short order [along with Kagan and Sotomeyor]?

SCROTUS majority; States can't decide on their own gun laws.

also SCROTUS majority; States can decide laws to control women.

Someone able to make firm & correct predictions of Roe v Wade being ended within 6 months is probably someone worth listening to in terms of how to resist and overturn this injustice.

To be fair, the Screaming Jesus Clown Posse are mainly a tool of people who have about as many sincere religious convictions as the Borgias.

Ironically, long term they may well find themselves having to deal with an inconvenient mass of cultists who would rather burn witches and live in log cabins than enrich their political masters. Unfortunately for everyone else, I can see the parasites just siphoning off what little can be salvaged from the dying corpse whilst they fuck off to their billionaires playground of choice.

Tortured_Genius wrote:To be fair, the Screaming Jesus Clown Posse are mainly a tool of people who have about as many sincere religious convictions as the Borgias.

Ironically, long term they may well find themselves having to deal with an inconvenient mass of cultists who would rather burn witches and live in log cabins than enrich their political masters. Unfortunately for everyone else, I can see the parasites just siphoning off what little can be salvaged from the dying corpse whilst they fuck off to their billionaires playground of choice.

Oddly enough, at another place, I wrote this ...

***********************************************************

The SCOTUS decision to castrate the Environmental Protection Agency tells us two things. First, that the Roe vs Wade decision had nothing to do at all with any lofty notions of the “sanctity of human life”, but was instead a cynical piece of pandering to unhinged theocrats and Christofascist moon pies, in order to distract them from subjecting a now corrupt and illegitimate institution to scrutiny, with respect to its blatant siding with corporate profit interests.

Indeed, the castration of the EPA is as blatant a signal as one could wish for, to the effect that SCOTUS now regards corporate profits as counting for more than human life or the habitability of the planet. Blatant to the point of warranting an investigation into whether or not the “conservative” judges were taking kickbacks from fossil fuel companies in order to push through this measure.

The pretence of a gimlet-eyed narrow legal focus is precisely that in the light of this decision - a pretence. It’s transparently obvious where the vector of intent is now pointing, namely, to the handing of wank-totem baubles violating the Establishment Clause to the bedsheet wearers, as a smokescreen behind which to destroy human rights, while putting in place measures to make government the bought and sold whore of corporate interests.

Of course, the wank fantasists among the fundageliKKKals will still think they’re going to fire up their Dark Age inquisitional theocracy, and start burning the “libtards” and “queers” at the stake. But they’re going to be rudely awakened when instead, what they end up with is something more akin to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, with a heavy leavening of Logan’s Run and The Hunger Games thrown in.

Indeed, there’ll be a departure from The Handmaid’s Tale in this respect - televangelists and other “religious figures” will be subject to the same corporate capture, and allowed to enjoy spending their tithes on McMansions and luxury SUVs only as long as they provide the illusion of a theocracy, while having their puppet strings pulled by accountants and lawyers serving the interests of the big business money god.

It’ll look like Gilead, but the governing religion will be the First Church of Christ, Pinstripe.

That is, of course, if the planet remains habitable long enough for this to be pulled off. This itself could be in doubt. June 29th, 2022, saw a weather station at Mehamn, Norway, record a daytime temperature of 30.8°C (that’s 87.4°F). Bear in mind this weather station is inside the Arctic Circle, at latitude 71°N.

If those temperature figures keep climbing in this manner, the planet will cease to be inhabitable by humans before the fossil fuel CEOs have time to place orders for new Bond villain penis-extension yachts, let alone take delivery thereof.

Trouble is, when these people find out too late that no amount of money will buy them escape from the shit they’ve caused, they’ll take the rest of the human race with them.

Thomas and Alito are overdue for colon cancer of the most painful kind.

New petition filed with the intent of establishing 'fetal personhood' via the 14th amendment.

First part of the 14th begins with "All persons born or naturalized in the United States ..."

https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/ ... 0Brief.pdf