Category Archives: Constitution/Legal

Monday’s Mtg (9/12/22): 21 years later – 9/11 as history.

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

The attacks of 9/11/01 were 21 years ago Sunday (!).  Since the median age of Americans is around 43, that means one-half of us were no older than 22 on that terrible day – and something like 30% were not yet born.  Although only a tiny fraction of the adult U.S. population directly participated in fighting the subsequent “global war on terror” (GWOT), it still stands as the most traumatic national tragedy that most living Americans experienced. 

A lot has changed in those 21 years.  Our assassination in July of Al Qaeda’s long-time second in command Ayman Al-Zawahiri basically pretty much finishes the destruction of AQ.  The “Islamic State” that sprouted up in Syria and Iraq has been all but defeated, too.  Most recent terrorism inside the USA has been of the home-grown, right-wing variety.

Since I took it over in 2010, Civilized Conversation has had few discussions directly about terrorism except as it relates to other issues (2021 lessons from Afghan war, 2017 U.S.-Saudi relations, 2016 Are we paying too high a price to fight terrorism?  2015 and others Iraq and Syria, etc.) 

Transnational terrorism will remain a real problem – especially since future terrorists no doubt will get access to drones, cyber weapons, AI, and other emerging war technologies.  But maybe after 21 years we finally can look at terrorism more dispassionately than we did when 9/11 and the Iraq/Afghan wars were fresh wounds.  We could ask questions about issues like

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS –

  1. Terrorism as a threat:  In retrospect, how big a threat was AQ and its allies/successors (like ISIS)?  Compared to what?  How bad will future threat be –  with all the weapons future terrorists will have and global strife over water, climate, ethno-nationalism is as bad as we fear?    
  2. Public response:  Yes 9/11 was ghastly.  But, did the U.S. public overreact?  Did politicians, news media, others hype the threat and fear for ulterior motives?  Any lessons about how easy it is to manipulate a frightened public?
  3. Political leadership:  Did our leaders overreact (not just GWB)?  Are there limits on how truthful they can be with us?  Iraq war.  Not leaving Afghanistan sooner.
  4. Defining the enemy.  Did we define the enemy too broadly and/or give the president too much power to prosecute the war?
  5. Causes of terrorism:  Did we think too little and too simplistically about this?  What does cause the rise of AQ/ISIS-like groups?  Does it really have nothing to do with our actions around the world?

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

NEXT WEEK (9/19/):  TBD next week.

Posted in: Constitution/Legal, Foreign Policy, History, Mtg Announcements, National Security, Politics | Tagged: , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (8/8/22): Cancel Culture – What is it, who’s doing it, who’s hurt by it?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

Cancel culture is one of those terms that everybody uses, everybody is outraged about, but few bother to define specifically what it means.  The term has become yet another conservative propaganda buzzword (like Critical Race Theory or political correctness).  Cancel culture, as far as I know, started off being about conservatives (or anybody, really) losing their jobs or their reputations because they express political or social opinions that used to be okay but no longer are by the liberal elites that apparently run the country with their intolerant values. 

No more.  The actions that are now labelled cancelling can mean just about anything, from getting fired or harassed for one’s opinions to merely having those opinions challenged or disagreed with.  I thought the First Amendment protected citizens from govt censorship.  But now cancel culture supposedly is a tool used by businesses (“woke businesses”), schools, social media platforms, and even fellow citizens (“woke mobs”).   

(Two asides.  First, as this person points out “every day in America countless wage workers are fired for silly or unfair or arbitrary reasons.”  These reasons include saying the wrong or unpopular thing.  Where are the hordes of commentators complaining they are victims of an intolerant “cancel culture?”  Second, as always, social media is a new culprit here.  Anonymous thousands can gang up on people that say unpopular or bigoted things, and help to damage their careers.  No Big Govt needed.)

And yet…this does NOT mean there is no such problem as cancel culture.  I’ve heard, and I have heard many of you cite, more than a few examples of what sounds like people being shut down or shut out because they dare to say things that are unpopular.  Free speech does not mean you have a right to say anything to anybody about anything anywhere, of course.  But a lot of observers complain that progressives are becoming less tolerant of dissent even among themselves.  We’ve discussed this.  Conservatives sure are.  Maybe groupthink begets groupthink. 

Civilized Conversation exists, I believe, in large part to help distinguish hyperbole from facts and propaganda from real problems.  This topic is a great one for trying to do that.  Maybe let’s start on Monday, after my short intro, by doing two things.

First, let’s explore exactly what different people mean when they call out “cancel culture.”  This might show us that different definitions change how serious a problem we have and for whom, and provide perspective.  (For example, voting, reproductive, freedom of assembly, LGBT, and other rights are under assault in American these days.  How does narrow-mindedness on college campuses and one-sided talk shows and some workplaces compare to these other attacks on our freedoms?) 

Motives matter here, too.  Why do people try to police language?  Is it just to bully and stifle debate?  Or can it be to increase tolerance and add more voices to the debate that used to be left out in a more bigoted time?  Free speech is a right – but all speech is not equally correct or deserving of public airing. 

Anyway, this will be a controversial one.  Please be nice to your moderator and he will try to do the same.  Maybe by evening’s end we can reach some common ground on how objectively harmful or harmless (or even useful and necessary, to some degree) cancel culture really is, and even – gasp – whether this latest culture war bomb could be defused.

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

NEXT WEEK (8/15):   Will India become a great power?  Will it remain democratic?

    More topics are in progress.  Got a suggestion? Comment here or at Meetup.

Posted in: Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, culture, Education, History, Liberalism, Mtg Announcements, Politics | Tagged: , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (8/1/22): What’s the future of global democracy? How much depends on the USA?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

I feel like I’m writing this post from an alternative universe.  One where American democracy is intact, rather than on the verge of being snuffed out deliberately by one of its own major political parties.  We have talked about the pre- and post-Trump GOP’s plans to dismantle constitutional govt so many times, what’s the point of going over it again?  Still, the first couple of links go over the details, in case you haven’t looked up in the last decade and seen the Pompeii-sized ash cloud coming to choke U.S. democracy.

This meeting is about how democracy is faring around the world, however.  Despite many recent setbacks, the end is not as nigh as some are saying.  Most other countries use parliamentary systems of one kind or another, rather than the American-style presidential-based system.   As we have discussed, our constitutional system may be a part of the problem.  But parliamentary systems have not been exempt from autocratic backsliding, either.  The last ten years have been catastrophic for democracy in many countries.  Hungary.  Brazil.  Venezuela.  Poland.  Turkey.  Guatemala.  Burma.  Mozambique.  When one adds in China and Russia, less than one-half of the global population lives in a free society.    

We have played a big role in some of this – going both ways, of course.  We have promoted democracy and liberalism in some countries, some of the time, especially in Europe and Northeast Asia.  We used alliances, trade and investment, aid and technical democracy assistance (supporting a free press, setting up election systems, etc.).  Of course, we could have many meetings on how we have undermined democracy, overthrown elected govts, etc.  It’s been especially bad in Latin America and the Middle East, IMO.  Democracy promotion has never been this country’s top foreign priority, and probably never will be.

But – and here’s the point.  In a 21st century where authoritarianism is on the march globally, our efforts to do what we realistically can do to help democracy survive – here and abroad! – may grow to become more important than they have in a long time.  Encouraging mutual support among global democracies is one of President Biden’s top FP goals (although events certainly have crowded out that agenda).

Monday’s mtg serves two purposes, to me.  To learn:

  1. How today’s authoritarian political movements – including our own GOP – are using new technologies and communications strategies to rot democracy from within. 
  2. What are the root causes that make people passively accept – or actively root for – the death of their own democracy and its liberal political culture. 

We can even discuss solutions, although admittedly, they seem scarce right now. 

Luckily for us all, history never ends.  The world is pushing back against Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and his general thuggery, and against Xi’s attempts to establish China’s hegemony over Asia.  Often autocrats are less insulated from public opinion than they think.  Try to read at least the one article that requires you to give up your email (it provides key background).  I will see you on Monday.

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

USA –

Globally –

CivCon mtgs –

NEXT WEEK (8/8):  Cancel culture: What does it mean and who’s doing it?

Posted in: Constitution/Legal, Foreign Policy, Mtg Announcements, National Security, Politics | Tagged: , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (7/18/22): Planes, food, and finance – Does corporate self-regulation work?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

This topic is meant as a kind of follow-up to a key issue we discussed at last week’s meeting on the Supreme Court: It’s ambitious agenda to roll back the federal government’s authority to regulate American business.  In several rulings SCOTUS basically gave itself the power to strike down large chunks of the regulatory state.  If it goes on to do so, much of basic environmental protections, worker health and safety rules, financial sector oversight, and even food safety could be left up to the 50 states. 

Which brings us to the topic of the pros and cons of industry “self-regulation.”  If the above keeps up, we probably will see a return to some of the more extreme forms of self-regulation that have been in disrepute for a decade, at least since the 2008-09 financial crisis. 

Don’t get me wrong.  Self-regulation is necessary and not at all an oxymoron.  In all modern nations, the entire economy is regulated to some extent, much of it at the state or local level.  Unless you want a totalitarian state, those rules have to be mainly enforced by…self-restraint, albeit often with pressure from trade or professional associations.  The New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers play this role in finance.  Bond rating agencies, insurance companies, and other private organization also help to enforce many laws and regs, from securities law to building codes to vehicle safety to environmental regulations. 

Their work is invisible to most Americans, so it may seem like industry regulates itself or that they operate “free” from the evil, intrusive govt.  But we’re talking self-enforcement of rules impose on industry through the democratic process (see link for why regulation is democracy in action).  Self-regulation seldom means “set your own environmental goals or none if you want.” 

The actual govt regulators do two things.  Two boring but crucial things.  First, they use scientific and other expertise to turn laws that protect our health, safety, and environment into regulations that (if they do it right!) industry can actually follow at a reasonable cost.  There’s a legal process to do this EPA, OSHA, et. al., that includes soliciting industry and public input.  Monitoring and enforcement involve – yawn – mandatory financial reporting, audits, on-site inspections, investigations, and use of whistleblowers or public interest groups.  Regulators an impose fines, sue companies, etc., if needed. 

Who cares?  Well, over the last 2+ decades industry self-regulation has grown to mean something radically different than the above benign mechanisms.  Under what liberals like to call Neoliberalism, an explosion of deregulation occurred in the 1980s, 1990s, and into the 2000s.  It was most prominent in the financial sector (esp. after it kaboomed in 2008-09), but other industries were deregulated.  They included food safety, occupational health and safety, and telecommunications.  In most of these cases, glorious self-regulation (meaning letting industry monitor its own regulatory compliance) was touted as an efficient and effective substitute for the heavy hand of government enforcement.  Sometimes it was, IMO. But not always. 

The point of this meeting is that, since we probably are about to see another surge of deregulation / self-regulation, maybe we should take a critical look at how well the first 30 years of it worked out.   

(It’s my mistake, kind of, for scheduling two relatively technical topics back-to-back.  I won’t do any long-winded intro like I did last week on the Supreme Court term, and we can stay out of the weeds of regulatory details.  Maybe read 1-2 of the recommended articles below to get the idea of how much deregulation has been done, how much they are relying on self-regulation, and a few pros and cons.  I’ll find a few angles for us that let everybody have something to say.)

Oh, and since Nick’s CivCon party is next Saturday 7/23 we will NOT have a meeting on 7/25.

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

NEXT WEEK (7/25):  No mtg. 
                       (8/1):   Will democracy rebound globally?  How much depends on USA?

Posted in: Constitution/Legal, Economy/Economics, Mtg Announcements, Politics, Social Policy/Social Science | Tagged: , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (7/11/22): Supreme Court, Part II – The economic agenda and the big picture

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

The most radical Supreme Court (SCOTUS) term in living memory ended July 1st.  The long-term strategy to remake America in a new constitutional image will continue.  People that don’t really follow these things probably know about the June 2022 decision reversing Roe v. Wade, and maybe a few others like the decision that struck down New York’s concealed carry permit law (and with it probably most state gun safety / gun control laws). 

You may or may not approve of these rulings and their enormous consequences.  But what you must understand is that neither of these are one-off rulings based on some particular set of facts.  Nor, frankly, are they anchored in any grand conservative judicial philosophy.  They are purely political and largely partisan, albeit lacquered up with a thin veneer of legal-speak. 

As I tried to explain at our Part I June 6th meeting on this new 6-3 right-wing majority SCOTUS, conservatives plan to fundamentally rewrite U.S. constitutional law.  To quote a well-known law professor:

“This really is the ‘Yolo’ [you only live once] court,” said Leah Litman, a law professor at the University of Michigan who closely follows the court. “I don’t think people fathom just how much more they will do.”  (source)

We’ve had many meetings along the road to this state of affairs.  Our last one focused on the rollback of constitutional rights that everyone knew was coming before 7/1, including reproductive rights, voting rights, religion liberty, labor and consumer rights, and due process in criminal justice.  That’s about one-half of the Bill of Rights altered in a month.  The abortion issue dominated our meeting.  This was understandable, given that the Court was about to flatly overturn Roe v. Wade.  But we kind of ignored some of the other big changes to our rights the Court made.

For Part II, I want to focus on the big picture of what SCOTUS and conservative jurisprudence plan to do (or have already done) in three broad areas:

  1. Rights rollbacks.  The most important leftovers we skipped over last time.
  2. Economics:  The Court’s immensely revanchist economic agenda; and finally
  3. Democracy:  It’s plan to permit election law changes that would insulate Republican politicians from voter accountability when they pass unpopular policies. 

Of the three, the economic agenda gets the least attention, probably because it’s complicated and incremental.  Yet it too is radical.  In some important ways it involves going back to an earlier time when the govt had far less authority to regulate business, employees and consumers had far less power to challenge corporate malfeasance, and state govts could easily restrict the right and opportunity to vote.  Much of the agenda has been accomplished already.

Lord, that sounded left-wing.  But if these are the facts of what the conservative legal movement has accomplished and plans to use this 6-3 moment to complete, then is it not right-wing and reactionary?  And nakedly politically partisan?  On Monday, I will try to explain the big picture on all this.  I will defer most of the nitty-gritty details to the discussion, if you want to hear/debate/dispute them.   

(BTW, none of this is meant to endorse any progressive POV of the Constitution or what liberals would do if they had control. We did that one once, for musing’s sake. It’s just not relevant right now.)

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

General, but key, points –

Economic Agenda – Roll back anything they want.

  • Regulations:  It’s complicated, so I’ll explain it a bit on Monday.  Basically, they’re using long-discredited or made-up theories to roll back any regulations conservatives/SCOTUS don’t like.  Doctrines like “major questions doctrine” and “non-delegation doctrine.” 
  • Privatize the legal system:  In 2016 CivCon discussed how SCOTUS greenlit mandatory binding arbitration clauses and other “tort reforms” that narrowed consumer/employee rights. 

Election law/voting rights – Put the states and SCOTUS back in charge

Many other areas –

  • Too many to cover them all: Taxpayer funds for religious education, press freedom threatened, rights of criminal suspects, etc. 

NEXT WEEK (7/18):  Planes, food, and finance: Does corporate self-regulation work?
July 23, Saturday: Our annual summer party!

Posted in: Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Economy/Economics, Mtg Announcements, Politics | Tagged: , ,

Monday’s Mtg: January 6th congressional committee – What did they find? Will the public care?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

As we’re learning, “January 6th” is like Watergate.  It does not refer to a single event but rather to a sprawling, multi-faceted, high-level scheme to undermine American democracy by illegally overturning a presidential election.  We’ve known much of this for a year and a half, although proof was lacking for some parts of the conspiracy. CivCon had two / meetings on it.

Our worst suspicions, at least about the actions of President Trump and his key people, have now been confirmed.  As everyone knows, the select committee formed by Congress to investigate 1/6 has been holding televised hearings.  The hearings are methodically laying out the results of, per the committee’s mandate, its investigation of what happened on January 6th and why.  By the time we meet next Monday, 3 of the 5 televised hearings will have been completed.  So, we won’t know the full story they are laying out.  So far, though, they have presented stunning evidence from unimpeachable sources that the following is true:

  1. The “Big Lie” that massive voter fraud cost President Trump reelection was a big lie.  Everybody around Trump knew this and they repeatedly told him so.  Thus, Donald Trump knew or had to know he lost.  (Hearing #2, basically.)
  2. Yet, he spent the two months between the 11/3/20 and 1/6/21 trying to get others – from state and local officials to Vice President Pence – to fix the electoral vote count on his behalf.  (He also repeated this lie in public hundreds of times to deceive his supporters, and it worked.)  The hearings so far have focused on Trump’s actions and those of a handful of his advisors, like Eastman and Giuliani.  There’s been little focus on other GOP officials like members of congress – although a dozen or so asked for Trump to pardon them! – or in state/local governments.  (Hearing #3.)
  3. In the run-up, Trump and others cajoled and threatened Vice President Mike Pence to illegally and unconstitutionally throw out certified state vote counts and electoral vote totals on 1/6.  They did this even though their own top legal advisors told them it was illegal and would lead to violence!  At the Ellipse on January 6th morning Trump egged on a large crowd and ordered them to march to the Capitol building where results were being certified.  After he learned they had invaded the building he tweeted that Pence had betrayed him.  Seconds later, the mob surged forward, hunting for Pence, House Speaker Pelosi, and other Congress members.  The evidence is substantial, but indirect, that Trump tried to have his vice president killed that day and Congress members massacred. (Hearing #1)

Adding to the committee’s credibility is that Republican Party and former Trump Administration officials presented most of the evidence we have seen this week. 

So, now we know for sure.  January 6th was not a riot or a spontaneous demonstration that got out of hand.  It was a coup attempt without the tanks and also a Hail Mary last-ditch step in a long running plan to keep Trump in power.  The mob was going to either force Pence to declare Trump the winner or kill or hold him hostage until another way could be found to declare Trump dictator.

To be fair, many of the demonstrators that day did not know they were being manipulated.  OTOH, how many would have opposed Trump seizing power by this or any other means? 

And, the Select Committee and other investigators (like DOJ) still have not told us or maybe have not learned many important things.  (TU or TH hearings might help.)  Answering at least these key questions (origin: DavidG) is urgent if our democracy is to survive another two years!

  1. Origin/breadth of the plot + how close it came to succeeding. 
    1. It’s still not 100% clear who conceived and was in command of this complex months-long conspiracy. 
    2. What if Pence had gone along?  What if the mob got to Pence and Pelosi (they got within 40 feet + right wing militias had weapons caches standing by)?  Would Trump have ordered military to put down any protests?
  2. Guilty versus guilt:
    1. Who committed crimes versus who merely knew about the plot but did nothing for 2 months to stop it/warn us in (a) Trump Administration + (b) Congress?
    2. In (c) state govts + (d) Fox News / right-wing news media?
  3. Will the public understand:
    1. How close we came to losing our democracy?   Closest since Civil War.
    2. Future elections will be stolen:  Elaborate plans are being implemented as we speak to rig elections in 2022 and2024 in almost every GOP-controlled state.  How can they be stopped, and free and fair elections guaranteed?

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

NEXT WEEK (6/27):   No meeting. 

Posted in: Congress, Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Criminal justice, Mtg Announcements, National Security, Politics, Presidency | Tagged: , , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (6/13/22): Supreme Court, Part I – Conservatives’ abortion and social/civil rights revolution.

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

Congress’s January 6th insurrection investigating committee has begun public hearings.  We will discuss its findings on 6/20.  While shocking, I hope the hearings don’t totally overshadow the dramatic Supreme Court term that will end on June 30th. 

Since the mid-1980s, SCOTUS’s conservative majority has been slowly implementing a very ambitious agenda to rewrite core elements of American constitutional law.  Much of that strategy was accomplished, as we have discussed many times, although some was thwarted.  Last year, the Trump-completed 6-3 ultra-conservative majority hit the ground running and has never stopped.  The words of one analyst I quoted last year have proven spot on:

“[T]he conservative Supreme Court will continue its long-running effort to redefine the relationship between voters and government, citizens and non-citizens, employees and employers, consumers and producers, and the United States and the world. How much of this agenda will be enacted is not yet knowable, but its breathtakingly ambitious scope is.”

This revolution is so broad and deep that I divided the topic into two meetings this summer.  Part I next Monday is, “Roe and the conservative social and civil rights agenda.” The mtg will emphasize cases this term (since last Oct.) and preview big ones TBD in the next 2 weeks.  Yet the revolution is so mature now that we might need to touch on older precedents of the last 10 years to explain what’s happening. 

I’m not kidding when I say SCOTUS is rewriting the meaning of many of our constitutional rights.  Not completely, of course, but in substantial ways that will impact most Americans.  Off the top of my head, SCOTUS has or soon will change the meaning of the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 14th, and 15th amendments; and probably more.   To quote another Court watcher:

In the coming weeks, the court will hand down a series of potentially transformative, intensely political decisions, driven not by some incontrovertible and objective reading of the Constitution but by their own equally intense ideology and policy preferences. The political effects will be — and should be — enormous.

Monday, we will tackle some of the Court’s major civil and political rights rulings, including those re:

  • Abortion and reproductive rights.  (2019 CivCon mtg what if Roe overturned.)
  • Religious rights: Religious exemptions from general laws(2016 2013.)  School prayer. Church/state separation (2020 mtg SCOTUS bulldozed the wall.  Student aid to religious schools.
  • Voting rights (2014), gerrymandering, state voter suppression/integrity laws 2018). 
  • Affirmative action in higher education.
  • Gun rights. (TBD; could states requiring gun licenses almost impossible.)  (2018, 2012)
  • COVID public health regulations:  Masks, vaccines, reopening economy.
  • Criminal Rights: Rights of the accused, the convicted, death penalty.
  • Campaign finance (as a free speech issue).

Doubtful we will get through all of these. 

On July 11 we will do Part II:  The 6-3 conservatives Court’s economic, regulatory, and biz/labor agenda.  These decisions often get less attention than easier to grasp social issues but can affect regular Americans enormously.

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

The revolution has hardly been televised –

Upcoming decisions –

NEXT WEEK (6/20/22):  January 6th – What did investigators find?  Will the public care?    

Posted in: Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Criminal justice, Mtg Announcements, Politics, Religion | Tagged: , ,

Monday’s Mtg: January 6th, 2021, Capitol Riot — What, Why, and Who is Responsible?

By DavidG on | 1 Comment

[See next post down for my intro to the “reboot” of Civilized Conversation.  Not a lot of changes, but they affect how we will handle this topic.]

Only twice in history has our seat of government been breached by violent invaders bent on overthrowing the government.  The first was by a foreign army over 200 years ago.  British forces captured Washington, D.C., in the War of 1812 and burned the Capitol building to the ground.  The second was by Americans.  A year and a month ago.  This sacking we watched unfold live.  Many Americans seemed determined not to know how close we came to a successful coup that day; others split hairs to deny one was even attempted.  Given the part this event has played in spurring a larger and much better organized plot to rig election outcomes in the future so no armed insurrection will be needed, I feel we must discuss the whole subject in my first meeting back after a long break.

To be sure, multiple investigations are ongoing, so some details of what happened on 1/6 are not yet known or publicly known.  Also, we must be fair to distinguish between (1) insurrectionists and their puppet masters and the grave crimes they committed, and (2) people that either were just peacefully protesting the election or let themselves get caught up in a mob mentality. 

Still, the basic contours of the insurrection are known.  The rioters’ goals were to

  • Use violence and threats of violence to stop/delay the Electoral College vote count;
  • Force Vice President Pence to illegally overturn the presidential election results;
  • Take hostage or assassinate Pence and members of Congress until they got their way.  (Some rioters may not have known all these plans, but who doubts they would have cheered it all on?)
  • Vandalize and trash our seat of govt to express their rage, because they thought they had the right to do so and/or that President Trump had told them to do it.

Wiki has the grim totals.  Hundreds of [corrected from: “More than 2,000”] people broke into the Capitol building [2,000+trespassed on Capitol grounds].  They beat and injured 138 police officers, hunted members of Congress like prey as they fled for their lives, and vandalized the building to the tune of around $40 million in damages.  Five rioters died that day (one shot by police) and four police officers died within the next few months by suicide.  Some rioters defecated in congressional offices, screamed racist insults, waved Confederate flags, and…well, I linked to some videos if you can stomach it.  One is only 10 minutes long but has the worst lowlights.  Better is the 40-minute video timeline with explainer.  

It was much worse.  It is now clear that the riot was merely the last, desperate act of a months-long planned coup to seize the presidency “legally” (not really) by manipulating our arcane electoral vote counting process.  President Trump himself led the plot and was aided and abetted by some senior staff, advisors, and very likely by a half dozen or more sitting Republican members of Congress. 

It will get even more worse.  Sure, for one brief shining moment it seemed the shock of armed rioters stalking our legislators inside the Capitol would induce the Republican Party to step back from the abyss.  Some GOP leaders did publicly condemn the attack and many other Party leaders seemed shaken.  Even some conservative news media were critical.  Seven GOP senators even voted to impeach Trump for inciting the violence that day (43 did not). 

But reason lost out.  Hell, on January 7th, one day after hiding for their lives from a mob of their own supporters, 147 GOP Congress members voted against certifying President Biden’s victory.  Fox News and the right-wing propaganda machine reverted to form (Antifa agitators did all the violence. It was just good clean fun trespassing. it was done to stop communism so the arrested rioters were the real victims.  Etc.)  Today, the entire Republican Party at all levels denies the seriousness of what occurred on 1/6/21. 

They are not the only ones.  A year later, the broad public seems to have shrugged off the whole affair.  Maybe we’re just exhausted and overwhelmed by COVID, etc.  Maybe the news media has failed us again.  They condemned the insurrection and clearly despise Trump.  But they won’t put the whole story together for us. 

By “the whole story” I mean what I want this group to focus on more this year:  The growing threat to American democracy coming from the once democratic Republican Party.  Eventually, we all hope American conservatism can be restored to a place of honor and the GOP to a normal political party in a democracy.  But it is not one now.  The lesson the thoroughly Trumpified party learned from 1/6 was not to shun extremism. It learned that it would be better to render violence unnecessary the next time.  So, in plain sight, in state after state, the Party is passing laws to restrict voting rights and to seize control over the vote counting process.  The 2020 election ended up showing the Right the weak points in American democracy. The GOP is exploiting them as we speak to tilt elections permanently in their favor.    

Maybe none of this will come to pass.  And the Democrats are not exactly bringing the Nirvana, either. Yet the must-read links below provide the evidence that it will happen unless Americans of good faith act NOW to stop it. 

My opening remarks will focus on the riot and explain what is known/unclear about 3 things:

  1. WHAT HAPPENED AND WHY on January 6th and how the insurrection fit into Trump’s larger plan to overturn the election results. 
    —> I will try to take care to distinguish criminal acts from icky but legal ones and known facts from suppositions.
  2. WHO’S INVESTIGATING WHAT:  Congress’ select committee v Justice Department v state/local prosecutors and grand juries.
    —> Much damning info that is known is not public yet.  That’s what good investigators do.  But Congress will hold hearing in April or May.
  3. THE (CROOKED) PATH TO PERMANENT MINORITY RULE:  I’ll be quick here, and focus on recent state laws to grab control of the electoral process. 

I will try to do all of this in only 15-20 minutes since there is so much to discuss.

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS

***  I said fewer from now on, but not this week.  Plus, only 3-4 are must-reads.

What happened on 1/6, who planned it, and why.

The investigations –

The GOP’s Fire Next Time –

NEXT WEEK (2/14):  Why do people stay in bad relationships?

Posted in: Congress, Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Criminal justice, Mtg Announcements, Politics, Presidency | Tagged: , , , ,

Monday’s Mtg (1/3/22): Private citizens in TX can sue to stop abortion. Can CA ban guns the same way?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

Long-time group member Andre will host this meeting that deals with current events, constitutional law, and the wisdom of playing tit for tat in politics. For suggested background readings and to sign up to attend, go to our group’s Meetup site.

Posted in: Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Liberalism, Mtg Announcements, Politics | Tagged: , ,

Monday’s Mtg: Supreme Court’s new term – What do they have planned next?

By DavidG on | Leave a comment

After yet another crazy, crowded week in U.S. politics this week, like always we will get no rest next week.  Among other reasons, Monday is day one of the 2021-22 Supreme Court (SCOTUS) term. 

It doesn’t seem like a beginning.  SCOTUS has been making big decisions all summer using its so-called “shadow docket.”  These are expedited “emergency” cases that are ruled on without oral arguments or other parts of the Court’s regular, visible process.  That’s how they at least temporarily upheld early this month – and with almost no written legal explanation – Texas’s stunning virtually total ban on abortion.  Abuse of the shadow docket is something we probably should discuss.

The abortion bombshell has consumed all of the media’s limited appetite for SCOTUS news since it broke, but that will change.  The 6-3 ultra-conservative majority has crowded some very big cases into the 2021-22 regular term that begins today and ends next June 30th.  Purpose number one of our meeting will be to preview these cases and debate how they could change the lives of millions of Americans when (okay, if) SCOTUS rules the way the Right wants on most/all of them. 

Why do it now, instead of next June?  That’s our second purpose, as I envision it.  We need to put into context what is coming, now that the unassailable 6-3 GOP majority is in full operation.  It’s too early to assess a term that is just starting, of course.  They have only announced they will take about 30 cases; the final total will be 60 or more.  But it’s not too early to see where they have already taken us, why, and to predict where they are heading.

As several of the recommended links below explain, the simple truth is we are now in the culmination phase of a decades-long conservative plan to revolutionize American constitutional law.  The campaign’s progress has been slow and uneven at times because it works only by deciding specific cases.  But the revolution is very broad, covering dozens of areas of law and policy.  It plays out on so many fronts, some of them involving arcane areas of economic and regulatory policy, and using such arcane tools that it is difficult to understand the big picture.  Yet, as one of the articles below says,

“[T]he conservative Supreme Court will continue its long-running effort to redefine the relationship between voters and government, citizens and non-citizens, employees and employers, consumers and producers, and the United States and the world. How much of this agenda will be enacted is not yet knowable, but its breathtakingly ambitious scope is.”

The American public has begun to grasp the political nature of the Supreme Court more clearly in recent years.  That’s okay.  The Court was not designed to be above the political system, whatever illusions people may cling to about its value neutral, Solomonic wise justices who just “call balls and strikes,” as Chief Justice Roberts insultingly claimed at his confirmation hearing.  If the coming term plays out the way many observers think it will, the public will start to see the conservative majority more and more as partisan political actors, as well.  They are (see #1 recommended link), and the Founders clearly did NOT intend that. 

We have discussed these matters over the years.  If you’re new or want a refresher, maybe go skim our meetings on –

  • 2020:  How vulnerable is our democracy to an anti-democratic Supreme Court?
  • 2020: The last term:  2020-21 big cases.
  • 2020: “Religious liberty” movement, an attempt to exempt conservative Americans from a growing range of laws they don’t like.  Also 2016.
  • 2016: The move to privatize our legal system using binding arbitration and other techniques to sharply limit tort lawsuits by people against companies.
  • 2014:  Interpreting 1st Amdt. to give corporations unrestricted right to make campaign contributions, + treat advertising as almost as protected as political speech.

My opening remarks will try to break down the SCOTUS majority’s agenda into several parts, to make it easier to discuss.  As a part of that I will reference the big upcoming cases with very short descriptions.  The point is not to memorize the name of cases or this or that specific legal change, but to see how SCOTUS is playing its part in the broader conservative movement.  Naturally, we also could talk about what Democrats might do if they ever regain judicial power – would they abuse it to get the outcomes they want?  

OPTIONAL BACKGROUND READINGS –

The big picture – (LONG but good context if you ever have time)

  1. The Roberts Court versus America.  Explains the whole conservative strategy.  From 2012, before they gutted voting rights, unions, and before 3 Trump appointments.  Or:
  2. The 40-year conservative SCOTUS revolution. 2016, most recent stuff discussed first.

Last term, 2020-21 – 

  1. In general, it was more conservative results than media reported.  
  2. Update/must-read: The last case decided last term destroyed the Voting Rights Act for good and legalized almost all GOP state voter suppression laws. Did anyone know this?

Shadow docket abuse –

  1. What is shadow docket + how and why it’s being abused. 
  2. SCOTUS  is drunk on its own power!  The 6 are no longer hiding their goal to revolutionize America through it judicial systhttps://news.yahoo.com/5-supreme-court-cases-watch-150000109.htmlem.  My #1 recommended.
  3. TX abortion decision is a threat to our rights – all of them.  YMMV.
  4. Eviction moratorium:  SCOTUS broke its own rules and Congress’ intent when it overturned CDC’s moratorium on tenant evictions. 

This term –

  1. How to follow 2021-22 term and focus on what’s important. 
  2. Five big cases that will be heard.  Recommended since it’s our topic.
  3. Conservative POV: Conservative judicial philosophy explained.
  4. Progressive POV: The “Far Right’s” big goals are all within reach this term.  Ten cases discussed.

NEXT WEEK (Oct. 11):  Are Americans starting to redefine what “success” means?

Posted in: Conservatism, Constitution/Legal, Mtg Announcements, Politics | Tagged: ,