Friday, November 17, 2017

The death of democracy.

TWEET MEDid the greatest democracy on earth die with the election of Donald trump?

The following article might help with some answers to that question.

The Field Negro education series continues.

 "It’s been one year since the election of Donald Trump as president and, despite his questionable commitment to the country’s political traditions, American democracy is still standing. Some of Trump’s most dangerous policies have been stopped by the judiciary. Others have not made it through Congress. Special counsel Robert Mueller is closing in on the dangerous liaisons between the Trump campaign and Russia (and perhaps much more). The president’s approval rating has hit a dismal 38 percent, and Democrats scored a landslide in Virginia’s elections last week.

Is it time to rejoice in the strength of American institutions? That would be underestimating the threat on the horizon and overestimating the strength of U.S. institutions. There are two complementary prongs to Trump’s onslaught on American democracy, and both are still clear and present threats.

The first is a systematic attack on democratic political norms.

Democracy is supported by a complex set of political norms that encourage restraint and compromise from the main political actors. These norms are the lifeblood of democratic institutions because no constitution can specify a complete recipe for resolving conflicts in the disparate situations in which politicians, political parties, and other powerful actors will find themselves. Even when certain rules are specified, they need to be interpreted and are often vulnerable to abuse. Democratic political norms fill in this vacuum. They encourage compromise and rule out actions that enable those who currently hold power from impairing rivals. Without these norms, those in office will find ways to abuse their power, undermining the workings of democratic institutions.

The recent history of Argentine democracy illustrates the disastrous consequences of the violation of such norms. Argentina’s famous strongman Juan Perón was elected as president in 1946, after his stint as minister of labor in the former military regime. One of his first acts was to replace three Supreme Court justices with his cronies. Thereafter, Argentina’s Supreme Court ceased to be viewed as a check on presidential power, and it became a new normal for every president, even those who came to power via democratic elections, to oust justices and replace them with loyalists.

Of course, the political norms of democratic compromise in the United States were seriously strained even before Trump’s presidency, as illustrated, for example, by systematic gerrymandering to lock in the domination of the party currently controlling a state’s legislature or by the unwillingness of Senate Republicans to even consider former President Barack Obama’s final nominee for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland. But Trump’s demonization of opposition and media, blurring of lines between personal and presidential, removal of all types of auditing and other control mechanisms on the administration, and legitimization of uncompromising, or even hateful, views via his implicit support for far-right protesters in Charlottesville and his pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio have set new lows not just by U.S. but by any international standards.
Political norms that are the bulwark of our democracy cannot be easily repaired once damaged, even if Trump’s most dangerous policies are stopped. Nor can white supremacist, anti-immigrant, and nativist rhetoric be swiftly sidelined once condoned by the U.S. president.

The second prong of the Trump onslaught is an attempt to weaken institutions so as to elevate the personal power of a would-be autocrat. The recent history of democratic institutions succumbing to such attacks in Russia, Turkey, and Venezuela illustrate that the takeover of democratic institutions is often a slow, gradual process. First comes the silencing of internal opposition within the party or the political movement of the strongmen. Then, there is the slow process of neutralizing the judiciary, followed by a systematic, if uneven, sidelining of independent civil service. All throughout, the media and other civil society organizations are increasingly muzzled and silenced by threats, co-option, and smearing.

Of course, if democratic institutions are truly strong and alert against threats, these attacks can be resisted. But the performance of U.S. checks and balances so far gives no comfort.


The last several months have shown clearly that Congress, so long as it remains under the control of Republicans, will provide none of the checks on the president’s power that are often presumed. On the contrary, the fact that only senators not seeking re-election have been able to speak against Trump underscores the near-complete capitulation of the Republican Party. And it is set to get worse as Republican lawmakers are witnessing how the small but highly motivated and mobilized minority of Americans devoted to Trump will bombard them with tweets, messages, or even threats if they so much as disagree with the president.

Several judges stood firm against Trump’s travel ban for several Muslim-majority countries. But in the next three years, Trump, through appointment, can completely change the balance of the judiciary, especially for cases that make it up to the Supreme Court, where he may have an opportunity to appoint several more justices. Banking on the judiciary to defend democracy would be foolhardy indeed.

The growing chorus of Trump supporters demanding the termination of Mueller’s investigation, fully anticipating that Republicans in Congress would not stand in the way, should dispel any notion that the judiciary can single-handedly defend American institutions.

It is heartening to see how several states and cities have stood for the rights of immigrants and taken actions for protecting the environment, even as the Environmental Protection Agency has turned into an anti-environment agency under Administrator Scott Pruitt. But states can neither stop the buckling of federal institutions under the president’s onslaught nor counter the collapse of political norms undergirding American democracy.

America’s most effective safeguards against Donald J. Trump so far are not to be found in Congress, the judiciary, or the states, but in the media and in civil society.

Many media outlets, led by the Washington Post and the New York Times, have enthusiastically embraced their critical role in these turbulent times and have spearheaded the defense of our democracy, keeping the spotlight on the president’s campaign against U.S. institutions and his and his family’s questionable business deals. But can we be sure that Trump’s unremitting attacks on the New York Times, CNN, and other critical outlets won’t work? It is true that when another would-be autocrat, Argentina’s previous president, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, tried to browbeat her country’s opposition media group Clarín, it did not succeed. But that’s small comfort. Independent newspapers did at first stand up to Hugo Chávez, Vladimir Putin, and Recep Tayyip Erdogan too, but they got worn down slowly by threats, financial pressure, and relentless smear campaigns by other media blindly loyal to these strongmen. Even if the tradition of fierce, investigative and sometime rambunctious journalism in the United States gives us some hope, we cannot bank on these media outlets to defend our democracy in this age of weaponized fake news.

The people who get their voice from democratic political institutions are — have to be — their last line of defense. The American people have risen up to this challenge. Their mobilization against the policies and the values of Trump’s administration are the true silver lining of the dark clouds of today. It is this mobilization that has paved the way to the defeat of the president’s ban on citizens of several majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States, that made it impossible for even Republican congressmen to repeal Obamacare, and that has egged on Democrats to stand firm against the president. But history is full of examples where such mobilization peters out, especially when faced with soft (and even worse, hard) repression, or when it runs out of steam or gives way to internal squabbles (witness the emergence of Democratic litmus tests, already starting to divide the opposition).

So the slow battle between America’s democratic institutions and its 45th president is set to continue. But even more worryingly, there are the wild cards.

Putin’s subversion of Russian institutions would have been much harder without the Chechen War and the alleged Chechen attack on four apartment blocks in Russia in 1999. The suspension of the remaining constitutional checks on Turkish President Erdogan would have been all but impossible without the intensification of the war between Turkish security forces and the Kurdish rebels. What would happen if we witnessed a series of foreign terrorist attacks on U.S. soil? Or if war broke out against North Korea?

It’s too soon to rejoice, and too dangerous to be complacent. We are still the last defense." [Source]

75 comments:

Just nother White Old Fart said...

The Field Negro said...
"What would happen if we witnessed a series of foreign terrorist attacks on U.S. soil? Or if war broke out against North Korea?"


- This is a question to consider, from a Cold War perspective:
Think about how many times politicians in search of ever-more power have precipitated and/or sponsored the violent attacks which gave them the populace's approval to sharply curtail liberties and rights.
-
- One has to look past the obvious, look more deeply than superficial "pop history", to find these undercurrents. Which is why most people don't know enough to ask the question.
-
- I've been theorizing for a couple of years that part of the right-wing end game will be the instigation of massive civil unrest coupled with indirect sponsorship of terrorist attacks which will combine to "justify" martial law and the severe reduction of constitutionally-based rights and freedoms for all but a very tiny number of established asset-aristocrats.
-
- I hope I'm wrong, but history seems to be repeating itself again...
-

Lt.Commander Johnson said...

Huh. To answer your questions....how many aircraft Carriers are now in striking distance of North Korea?

Figger it out. Yung Suk Il had better.

Anonymous said...

"Did the greatest democracy on earth die with the election of Donald trump?"

No, you are thinking of Obama.

Anonymous said...

Chicago November 1st-17th 2017:
Shot & Killed: 22
Shot & Wounded: 87
Total Shot: 109
Total Homicides: 22

Limpbaugh said...

Criticing Trump for his policies is definitely a step in the right direction. Criticisms are more accurate when you listen to both sides and don't over-react with knee jerk belief of one sided arguements. I also wouldn't ignore the sins of the corporate neocons in either party. I prefer progressive policies myself, but supporting ISIS to overthrow Syria is unforgivable to me.

Trump has put out mixed signals but overall he was a comparative dove on Syria. Hillary definitely would have continued Obama's CIA support of ISIS in Syria and we could have been shooting down Russian planes with the no fly zone she wanted. But now there are indications Trump is headed toward killing people for Saudi Arabia and Israel in places like Lebanon in a continued proxy war with Iran. I have written about the possible CIA support of a terrorist group in Iran, how the troop increase in Afghanistan could be related, and now there are reports that the U.S. let defeated ISIS rebels in Syria evacuate with weapons. To be fair, Assad has also let defeated ISIS rebels evacuate. He believes some of them just do it to support their families.

I can't say that my worse case scenario speculations are all true, or that I am certain for the reasons behind the recent developments, but Trump and General Flynn were both against intervention in Syria while they bashed Iran. Maybe Trump should given Obama's Nobel Peace prize and then be sent home before he redirects the interventionism to different countries.

Anonymous said...

Just as expected...the GOP tax plan will benefit the rich and the corporations.
And the few crumbs that Trump is tossing at the middle class will all end in 2025.

The middle class is getting screwed...as usual.
Just another example of how the rich take advantage of the ignorant among you all the time.

I hope all of of you ignorant Trump voters are proud of yourselves.
As long as the rich can keep duping and keeping you thinking that "those minorities" are the ones taking something from you, then
You all will NEVER learn.

Anonymous said...

Trump tax reform is net benefit to the middle class.

Anonymous said...

If white women vote Moore and people like him into office then
they are setting themselves back 200 years and are a slap in the face to themselves and all the women from the women's movement started by white women in this country to protect themselves from white male predators.
Example: Trump got the white woman vote in spite of his sexual harassment and assault of white women.

If you don't remember your history...then it will be repeated.

Come on, man said...

"Did the greatest democracy on earth die with the election of Donald Trump?"

Did you really consider America to be the "greatest democracy on earth" prior to Donald Trump's election? I distinctly remember a considerably more critical opinion of America expressed on this site prior to the ascension of God Emperor Trump.

Fake News Update said...

"Many media outlets, led by the Washington Post and the New York Times, have enthusiastically embraced their critical role in these turbulent times"

After eight years of relentless boosterism during the Obama administration.

Funny that, huh?

Fuck them and fuck you.

Bill Clinton is a rapist said...

Hillary lost.

Alan Greenjew said...

Folks here are the annual GDP percentages during Barack Obama's miserable 8 years as President!

2009 – (-2.8%)
2010 – (+2.5%)
2011 – (+1.6%)
2012 – (+2.2%)
2013 – (+1.7%)
2014 – (+2.6%)
2015 – (+2.9%)
2016 – (+1.5%)

Combined 8 Years – (+1.5%)

Oy Vey!

dinthebeast said...

Fergus and the Pig People are sure having a good time tearing down everything they can get their hands on, but I suspect that most if not all of them will miss that stuff when it's gone.

But even that is not anything to rely upon: Remember, these are the same brain-wizards cheering and voting to have their own access to healthcare taken from them. They therefore cannot be trusted to act in a non-suicidal manner.

The good news is that we are winning elections, even in places like Oklahoma, and the driving force behind those victories has been women, and young women in particular. Black women have always been the backbone of our voting base, at right around 91%, but now white women, especially younger white women, are starting to vote their gender instead of their race because they are being attacked as the result of failing to do so in 2016.

When you don't know whether your child will have access to a doctor when they need one, you remember who and why that is, because it is fucking important to you. It leaves an impression, and makes you not just want, but need to do something about it.

But I do agree that it's the norms of governance that are the worst damage they have done so far (followed closely by the buggering of the judiciary and the lost time we don't have to do something about climate change) as they will be the hardest to repair when the Democrats get control again.

Legislation can be repealed, regulations can be reinstated better than they were, but those ways of operating and cooperating? They are more fragile than the stuff that is spelled out in the constitution.

Look at the damage that was done by Gingrich and GOPAC in 1996 to the ability of congress to work on anything at all in a bi-partisan manner: it's still that way two decades later. But climate change? That time is just gone, and we don't get it back, and we will all suffer for it.

-Doug in Oakland

dinthebeast said...

Hey oy vey:
You didn't mention that Obama inherited an economy in freefall, hemorrhaging 700,000 jobs monthly, trillion dollar plus deficits, and the worst financial crisis since the great depression, and was fought tooth and nail in his efforts to fix it literally from before his inauguration, and still managed to post the longest span of private sector job growth in the history of the country.
Or the blackmail and sabotage the Republicans threw at him after the 2010 midterms.

-Doug in Oakland

Limpbaugh said...

"The suspension of the remaining constitutional checks on Turkish President Erdogan would have been all but impossible without the intensification of the war between Turkish security forces and the Kurdish rebels. " That is very true, but it isn't the whole story. There was also the failed coup attempt. The coup attempt co-incideded with Turkey switching sides from supporting ISIS to opposing them. The fear of Turkish Kurds joining Syrian Kurds for independence in areas of Syria that Kurds liberatedwas a major factor in the switch.

There were numerous other Turkey related developments with a "co-incidental" time frame. Terrorist attacks in our NATO ally Turkey happened after John Kerry told Putin we would prioritize fighting ISIS over overthrowing Assad. By the way, as a side note, NATO is mad that Turkey has started buying weapons from Russia instead of the U.S. and Turkey could end up leaving NATO. And sell out Cenk Uygur went from being a top Erdogan fan to opposing him after the Clinton campaign donated 20 million dollars to TYT.

I believe it was Stephanie Ruhie who I saw ramble on about Flynn colluding with Russia on MSNBC. Then she added, and a little bit with Turkey too, like an afterthought. I know I've written here about what Flynn did before, including how little he was paid to make a speech at an RT News celebration compared to how much Turkey paid him. This is part of what I wrote on the Field Negro website not long ago. It is largely a reminder of different things I've written here about Turkey over a lengthy period of time.

I pointed out that Mike Flynn colluded with Turkey not Russia back when the media first started lying about that. And I suspected that our NATO ally Turkey was a top supporter of ISIS before I realized that we were supporting ISIS too. Turkey bought oil and artifacts from ISIS. Two summers ago John Kerry told Putin that we would concentrate on fighting ISIS instead of Assad and Turkey started being attacked by terrorists. Apparently Turkey had followed our lead. They decided they didn't want a destabilized Syria on their border and switched sides, even though we didn't stick to it.

I wrote about Turkey being worried that Turkish Kurds would unite with Kurds in neighboring countries and revolt for independence and how Trump helping Kurds liberate areas from ISIS was a point of contention. I wrote about Flynn colluding with Turkey to get the Clinton's big donor Iman friend sent to Turkey. I wrote about the Iman and arrested U.S. consulate officials being involved in the failed coup. And I wrote about Clinton supporting the coup that happened when Turkey switched sides and opposed ISIS. Flynn worked for Turkey after they opposed ISIS. Clinton supported Turkey when they helped ISIS.

Something I didn't say before was that Flynn's collusion with Turkey could have involved planning a kidnapping of the Iman Turkeys wants for orchestrating the coup attempt, but my past description certainly didn't rule that out.





Flying Junior said...

I love you Field. Although you are a realist, you never give up hope for a better society. Many thanks for your educational series.

Anonymous said...

Sugarland Springs, Texas Nov. 1-17th

Shot and killed:26
Total homicides:26

Anonymous said...

Montgomery, Alabama Nov. 1-17th

Creepy child molestors running as the GOP senate nominee: 1

Limpbaugh said...

Trump dominated the pre election news by saying stupid things. Maybe that wasn't so stupid after all. He won. Threatening Rocketman got a lot more cooperation from China reeling in North Korea than wimpy appeasement would have. Trump beat who some called the most qualified candidate ever, who outspent him 2 to 1, had the backing of the media, and allegedly had complete control of the DNC. A racist businessman beat the corrupt bloodthirsty warmonger. You should be cleaning up your own party of the lying corporate neocons who cheat progressives, not exaggerating criticisms of Trump.

Anonymous said...

"Folks here are the annual GDP percentages during Barack Obama's miserable 8 years as President!"

Obama inherited the worst US economy since the '30s. Exactly how dumb do you think the rest of us are, that we would believe this claptrap?

Maybe your perceptions are skewed, after witnessing the epic stupidity of your own party, but such obvious lies will not fool anyone else who has not completely drunk the wingnut Koolaid.

Anonymous said...

"But I do agree that it's the norms of governance that are the worst damage they have done so far (followed closely by the buggering of the judiciary ..."

Trump is buggering the civil service as well as the judiciary. A lot of qualified people are being driven out of government, to be replaced with unqualified buffoons.

He has failed to repeal Obamacare, but is working hard to financially sabotage it. That could become significant if his disastrous presidency drags on and isn't brought to a swift close.

He and his party are savaging regulations on consumer protection and the environment. This too will leave lasting damage.

And deportations of non-criminal illegal residents are escalating. Those people's lives are fucked, regardless of whether Trump is forced out of office. They may not have a legal right to be here, but it surely lacking in compassion to expel those who've been here for decades and have deep ties to their communities.

Anonymous said...

"Look at the damage that was done by Gingrich and GOPAC in 1996 to the ability of congress to work on anything at all in a bi-partisan manner: it's still that way two decades later."

Democratic norms did indeed start decaying with Newt and his determination to abuse the basic machinery of government to attack Bill Clinton.

In a nutshell:

Nixon screwed the justice system, with the War on Drugs.

Reagan screwed the economy, by promoting unlimited, unrestrained free-market capitalism via his "government is the problem" lies.

Newt screwed democratic norms.

You can also add in the rise of Murdoch-style, propagandistic wingnut media, back before people were openly calling this sort of thing Fake News, with its assault on objective reality and facts. This has brainwashed a lot of Americans so badly they don't know which end is up. Rampant ignorance prevails in Middle America.

These are the stages by which the wheels have come off and the country has gotten worse as a whole, even as some bad things, like everyday sexist and racist attitudes, have decreased over time (although Trump is now threatening even those gains).

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Sugarland Springs, Texas Nov. 1-17th

Shot and killed:26
Total homicides:26
1:31 AM

One time event.
Chicago does that easily, double the homicides EVERY MONTH,MONTH AFTER MONTH!!

mike from iowa said...

Obama inherited the worst US economy since the '30s. Exactly how dumb do you think the rest of us are, that we would believe this claptrap?

Pretty fucking goddamn dumb. Oh! You didn't really want an answer? Too fucking bad, stoopid fucking wingnuts.

Shit fer brains-Chicago hasn't shot anyone. Its guns that does that. Guns- one of two favorite wingnut words that aren't found anywhere in the constitution. The other being god. Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...

"One time event.
Chicago does that easily, double the homicides EVERY MONTH,MONTH AFTER MONTH!!"


Not a one time event. Mass shootings happen over and over again in America. A large proportion of them are redneck dumbfuckery. Month after month after month.

Milton Friedjew said...

"Obama inherited the worst US economy since the '30s. Exactly how dumb do you think the rest of us are, that we would believe this claptrap? "

No, the economy Reagan inherited from Carter was much worse.

The financial crisis was a short term event that should have been fully recovered from in two years. But Obama's policies dragged it out over his whole 8 years.

Trump is just getting started, and already we are seeing growth levels we haven't seen in decades.

And truth be told, you are stupid as fuck.

Elena Kaganburg said...

In 1977, a prominent feminist lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the “age of consent” for sexual acts should be lowered to the age of 12.

mike from iowa said...

Milton Friedjew said. What a load of shit!!!

mike from iowa said...

Anonymous Elena Kaganburg said...

In 1977, a prominent feminist lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the “age of consent” for sexual acts should be lowered to the age of 12.

Pants on Fire plus a million Pinocchios for lying some more.


Fox News host Sean Hannity repeated the false claim that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had supported both "legalized prostitution" and lowering "the age of consent to 12" prior to her 1993 confirmation hearing. A 1974 report co-authored by Ginsburg did address the constitutionality of prohibitions on prostitution and did refer to legislation that set the age of consent at 12 years. But Ginsburg did not assert a position on either issue, as Media Matters for America previously noted in response to a nearly identical claim made by Wall Street Journal columnist Manuel Miranda.

Anonymous said...

Not a one time event. Mass shootings happen over and over again in America. A large proportion of them are redneck dumbfuckery. Month after month after month.
9:45 AM

Yes,one time event in Sugarland Springs Tx. Chicago on the other hand does this and more EVERY MONTH. Been going on for years.

Wingnuts Always Be Lying said...

"In 1977, a prominent feminist lawyer Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the “age of consent” for sexual acts should be lowered to the age of 12."

No she didn't. This is yet another case of wingnuts twisting a left-winger's statement out of all recognition. The argument Ginsburg actually made is that it shouldn't be considered statutory rape for a minor to fuck another minor (like a 15 yo with a 12 yo), and that boys and girls should be treated equally under such laws (and they are today, but not back when she was writing about this in a legal journal).

If you object to this, then you're an idiot who doesn't understand that statutory rape exists to protect children from being exploited by grown adults like Roy Moore, not from each other.

We should probably change the name of these laws to something besides "rape," instead of pretending teens can't consent to sex, because, in fact, they can and do all the time. Otherwise, there is always the risk that idiots like Lindsey Graham, who was mostly responsible for spreading this smear against Ginsburg, will get confused.

Lindsey Graham's Smear

mike from iowa said...

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rickungar/2014/09/18/the-obama-economy-vs-the-reagan-economy-its-literally-no-contest/2/#e7c7a0d304d0

From that bastion of liberal spewing tax and spend nuts at Forbes.

Dumb as fuck Drumpfuck inherited a strong economy with the Dow at record highs and has done nothing but claim credit for all the work Obama the GOAT and Democrats did to make amerika great.

Anonymous said...

The Progressive Center Left Elite class in America are so pissed at loosing the election. Trump won the election and foiled their plans to pack SCOTUS with alt left nut jobs so they could legalize pedophilia.

Hollyweird,the bastion of rape and pedophilia are leaders in spreading the alt left doctrine.

mike from iowa said...

OTOH- Drumpfuck was caught in a Phillipines hotel room with a certified underage Asian elephant peeing on him. Film at 11.

Wingnuts Always Be Lying said...

Also, in that same paper, Ginsberg never specifically advocates for a specific age of consent (age 12 or any other age). She was only addressing the purpose of the law and gender equality under it.

Wingnuts pulled the "age 12" thing out of their asses.

mike from iowa said...

https://wonkette.com/625984/chuck-grassley-says-its-wrong-to-deny-judicial-nominees-a-hearing-why-do-you-ask


To paraphrase Molly Ivins- If chutzpah was a word in wingnut speak, you would use it here.

mike from iowa said...

https://www.salon.com/2017/11/15/trumps-judicial-picks-are-so-ludicrous-he-may-just-be-trolling-us/

Everyone Drumpf picks is the bottom of the barrel bad choices for lifetime appointments. No wonder stoopid fucking wingnuts drool over these swine.

Elena Kaganburg said...

"Ginsberg never specifically advocates for a specific age of consent (age 12 or any other age)."

Uh, she said 12.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg co-authored the book called Sex Bias in the U.S. Code in 1977 with a feminist, Brenda Feigen-Fasteau, for which they were paid with federal funds under Contract No. CR3AK010. The 230-page book was published by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. It was written to identify the federal laws that allegedly discriminate on account of sex and to promote ratification of the then-pending federal Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), for which Ginsburg was a fervent advocate. Here are some of Ginsburg’s liberal recommendations set forth in her book Sex Bias in the U.S. Code.[3]

Ginsburg called for the sex-integration of prisons and reformatories so that conditions of imprisonment, security and housing could be equal.

She called for the sex-integration of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts because they "perpetuate stereotyped sex roles." (145)

She insisted on sex-integrating "college fraternity and sorority chapters" and replacing them with "college social societies." (169)

She even cast Constitutional doubt on the legality of "Mother's Day and Father's Day as separate holidays."

Ginsburg called for reducing the age of consent for sexual acts to persons who are "less than 12 years old." (102)

She asserted that laws against "bigamists, persons cohabiting with more than one woman, and women cohabiting with a bigamist" are unconstitutional. (195)

She objected to laws against prostitution because "prostitution, as a consensual act between adults, is arguably within the zone of privacy protected by recent constitutional decisions." (97)

Ginsburg wrote that the Mann Act (which punishes those who engage in interstate sex traffic of women and girls) is "offensive." Such acts should be considered "within the zone of privacy." (98)


https://books.google.com/books/about/Sex_bias_in_the_U_S_Code.html?id=M5-bAAAAMAAJ

Anonymous said...

"Ginsburg called for reducing the age of consent for sexual acts to persons who are 'less than 12 years old.' (102)"

Those aren't Ginsburg's words. Those are some right-wing pinhead's deliberate misinterpretation of her words. Like all the rest of that junk you quoted.

Anonymous said...

mike from iowa said...
OTOH- Drumpfuck was caught in a Phillipines hotel room with a certified underage Asian elephant peeing on him. Film at 11.
12:03 PM


Please show it to us...........

mike from iowa said...

You'd deny it if I did, Anymoose.

Death of stoopid right wing nut jobs- in church no less.

http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2017/11/81-year-old-man-shows-off-gun-he.html

Shot himself and his wife.

Kersey said...

The joys of public transportation in post-white USA.

More Urine Detection Equipment Needed for MARTA in Atlanta (Ridership is 74% Black)

http://www.ajc.com/news/urine-detection-system-installed-atlanta-transit-station-elevator/wsBWll9ZZSJiAXywTV7LjN/

Rosa should have stayed in the back of the bus.

mike from iowa said...

Nope.

The bizarre claim that Ginsburg wants the age of consent to be 12 comes from a book published in 1977 called Sex Bias in the U.S. Code. It was a book about how laws in the US in the 70s made rape illegal if a man was the rapist, but were written in such a way that a woman rapist could not be charged or punished.

This is something that men’s rights activists complain about all the time—laws that say something is a crime if a man does it but is totally okay if a woman does it. And believe it or not, it's one of the few places men’s rights activists and feminists are in complete agreement. The law should treat men and women the same.

In Sex Bias in the U.S. Code, Ginsburg uses an example of a bill that was in front of Congress. Ginsburg did not write the bill, she did not support the bill, she was not in Congress, and she had nothing to do with it. The bill said:

A person is guilty of an offense if he engages in a sexual act with another person, not his spouse, and: (1) compels the other person to participate: (A) by force; or (B) by threatening or placing the other person in fear that any person will imminently be subjected to death, serious bodily injury, or kidnapping; (2) has substantially impaired the other person's power to appraise or control the conduct by administering or employing a drug or intoxicant without the knowledge or against the will of such other person, or by other means; or (3) the other person is, in fact, less than twelve years old."

So whoever wrote the bill—I can't find who that was, but it was someone in Congress, not Ginsburg—was suggesting lowering the age of consent to 12.

Ginsburg said this was an example of how the law has sexist biases, specifically because it assumes all rapists are men—with this law as it is written, a woman can never be a rapist. She said that if the law were to be made so that it was not sexist, references to “he” would need to be taken out, and the bill would need to be rewritten to apply equally to men and women.

You have to be pretty desperate (or pretty gullible!) to think that means Ginsburg wants the age of consent lowered to 12



What's pathetically funny is the outfits claiming Ginsburg is guilty are extremist right wingers like Schlaffly's Eagle Forum.

mike from iowa said...

Ruth Marcus- the Ginsburg Fallacy- In fact, then-Judge Ginsburg was a consensus choice, pushed by Republicans and accepted by the president in large part because he didn't want to take on a big fight. Far from being a crazed radical, Ginsburg had staked out a centrist role on a closely divided appeals court. Don't take it from me -- take it from Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah). In his autobiography, the Utah Republican describes how he suggested Ginsburg -- along with Clinton's second pick, Stephen G. Breyer -- to the president. "From my perspective, they were far better than the other likely candidates from a liberal Democratic administration," Hatch writes.

dinthebeast said...

"You can also add in the rise of Murdoch-style, propagandistic wingnut media, back before people were openly calling this sort of thing Fake News, with its assault on objective reality and facts. This has brainwashed a lot of Americans so badly they don't know which end is up. Rampant ignorance prevails in Middle America."

Brought on by Saint Ronaldus taking the fairness doctrine out behind the barn and shooting it in its head.

-Doug in Oakland

mike from iowa said...

Malcom Young, 64, AC-DC guitarist and founding member has left the building. Dementia.

Wingnuts prolly lied him to death.

mike from iowa said...

Another US warship has collision with Japanese tug. Obama is to blame and so is HRC because she had emails.

Democracy is dieing one ship wreck after another under Drumpfuck.

Bold, James Bold said...

"Several judges stood firm against Trump’s travel ban for several Muslim-majority countries. But in the next three years, Trump, through appointment, can completely change the balance of the judiciary, especially for cases that make it up to the Supreme Court, where he may have an opportunity to appoint several more justices. Banking on the judiciary to defend democracy would be foolhardy indeed."

You keep a-using that word.  I do not think it means what you think it means.

Americans are firmly AGAINST immigration, especially of Muslims.  They don't want any more Nidal Hasans, Tafsheen Maliks and Omar Mateens.  The insistence of the judiciary that we must continue letting them in is ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, as is overturning of plebiscites banning fag marriage.


"Remember, these are the same brain-wizards cheering and voting to have their own access to healthcare taken from them."

They're voting to CHOOSE to buy health care where and how they want, not being FORCED to buy a particular thing at gunpoint.

"They therefore cannot be trusted to act in a non-suicidal manner."

And you're just the one to run their lives for them, eh Mikey?

Dictator-wannabes, every last one of you.


"You should be cleaning up your own party of the lying corporate neocons who cheat progressives, not exaggerating criticisms of Trump."

SJWs Always Lie.  It's genetic.

"it surely lacking in compassion to expel those who've been here for decades and have deep ties to their communities."

... communities of other illegals and people who will never assimilate.

They All Have To Go Back.

Anonymous said...

PURGE!!

Admiral Idiota said...

ike from iowa said...
Another US warship has collision with Japanese tug. Obama is to blame


Obama is to blame for an Affirmative Action navy that can't steer straight.

mike from iowa said...

communities of other illegals and people who will never assimilate. Best description ever of Baldingo by Baldingo and for Baldingo.

Anonymous said...

"The joys of public transportation in post-white USA.
More Urine Detection Equipment Needed for MARTA in Atlanta (Ridership is 74% Black)"


And you think this would be different with a less-black ridership? Apparently, you believe white homeless people and white drunk people do not exist.

The only way to eliminate this problem entirely would be to ban all poor people and drunk people from trains -- an epic dick move, since poor people and drunk people are the ones who need public transit the most. (Poor people can't afford cars, and keeping drunk people off the train means putting them behind the wheel, where they will kill everyone else.)

Just another White Old Fart said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"The joys of public transportation in post-white USA.
More Urine Detection Equipment Needed for MARTA in Atlanta (Ridership is 74% Black)"


And you think this would be different with a less-black ridership? Apparently, you believe white homeless people and white drunk people do not exist.
6:06 PM


-
- BINGO!!!
-
- Or, if they do exist, it's ONLY "because of affirmative action" and/or "Jews". The degree of cognitive disconnect and sheer delusion makes one wonder how such people can manage to function *at all* in society, at least the bulk of society which is outside of a very small bubble of ideal conditions created and maintained by dedicated enablers with their own set of "interesting" mental conditions. No wonder change and diversity are so feared and so hated...
-

Just another White Old Fart said...

^^^^ OH, BTW, that was sarcasm, that bit about "it's ONLY "because of affirmative action" and/or "Jews"" - That is in no way MY view, but it's the view aggressively pushed by the "if it's white it's gotta be right" types.
- My error for neglecting to note that...

Ralph Kramden said...

And you think this would be different with a less-black ridership? Apparently, you believe white homeless people and white drunk people do not exist.
-----------
yes, racists do believe shit like this. just like there are no whites on welfare.

James is a pedophile said...

... communities of other illegals and people who will never assimilate.

They All Have To Go Back.
-------------
you know who really has to go? child molestors like James who has to troll jr. high schools to get a date. "courting" is what you call it you sick piece of shit?

Big Black James Bold said...

Will James ever post something worthy of a guy with an IQ of 150? On the other hand I post rather intelligent commentary worthy of my 1600 SAT and 151 IQ.

James is a dumb child molestot said...

150 IQ?
Bwahahahahahahaha!

Anonymous said...

"The degree of cognitive disconnect and sheer delusion makes one wonder how such people can manage to function *at all* in society, at least the bulk of society which is outside of a very small bubble of ideal conditions created and maintained by dedicated enablers with their own set of 'interesting' mental conditions."

Racists, particularly the hardcore "lifestyle" white nationalist variety, are amazing in their hugely overdeveloped confirmation biases.

I really don't know how, in 2017, it is possible to mentally delete all the prosperous, high-functioning black people and all the not-so-prosperous, not-so-high-functioning white people who exist in society. But somehow, they manage to do it, in order to maintain their belief in an alternate reality in which all white people are kind, smart, and productive, and all black people are dysfunctional and worthless.

These losers must be consuming a very high percentage of their frankly limited brainpower to cherry-pick the evidence in this way and uphold their absurd worldview.

Black James Bold, a brotha confident enough to date grown women said...

Funniest shit ever, when asked why a grown assed man would troll for little gurls at high schools our resident pedophile James chimes in "that's where the virgins are".
Bwahahahahahahaha! You can't make this shit up.

Bold, James Bold said...

"The only way to eliminate this problem entirely would be to ban all poor people and drunk people from trains -- an epic dick move, since poor people and drunk people are the ones who need public transit the most."

If you didn't have the trains, the carless couldn't go outside their neighborhoods to get drunk.  Stuck on foot, they couldn't drive drunk OR piss in trains.  Problem solved!

Better yet, we should remove the criminal element from our cities to prison farms ringed by razor wire and let the productive live in the city again if they wish, safe and unmolested.


"I really don't know how, in 2017, it is possible to mentally delete all the prosperous, high-functioning black people"

They're outnumbered 20:1 by the type who appear in WSHH videos.

"and all the not-so-prosperous, not-so-high-functioning white people who exist in society."

We're not demonized as racists if we call them "white trash", and we do.  The problem Black people have is the 95% give the other 5% a bad name.

"when asked why a grown assed man would troll for little gurls at high schools our resident pedophile James chimes in "that's where the virgins are"."

And Roy Moore wifed one up and has stayed married to her for 32 years and 4 children.  She's 56 now, so she was 24 at the time.

Charles Darwin said...

"And you think this would be different with a less-black ridership?"

Of course it would.

Anonymous said...

You can't lose what you don't have.

This article is based upon a fundamental delusion that America is some kind of great democracy to begin with.

That's patriotic propaganda.

While the United States has the formal trappings of democracy and voting, America in practice is based upon the almighty Dollar.

Despite claiming to have a one person-one vote system, the United States in actuality is more like a one dollar-one vote system.

Money--not democracy--is what drives America.

This also applies to America's vaunted "Free Press," which is a corporate-controlled media, with ever greater levels of concentrated ownership by US corporations.

In short, America ain't a democracy.

The USA is a corporate plutocracy.

And, no, this situation didn't start with Donald Trump but rather has been ongoing for generations under both Democrats and Republicans alike--including Barack Obama.

James is a homeschooled pedophile said...

James molests children. No my man, don't try to act like you didn't endorse child molestation playa. You know you cruise playgrounds looking for virgins. Sick bastard!

Anonymous said...

Progressive Center Left=Nazi

mike from iowa said...

And Roy Moore wifed one up and has stayed married to her for 32 years and 4 children. She's 56 now, so she was 24 at the time.

And Hillary was pilloried by stoopid fucking wingnuts for standing by her man, who, as it turns out, wasn't near the scumbag Roy Moore is.

mike from iowa said...

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/11/19/relationship-president-george-hw-bush-george-w-bush-41-43-iraq-war-215828

A nifty, easy to follow and understand the consequences of dumfuck dubya's adventurous soire to overthrow the Middle East and allow terrorists to take over. Iran now reigns because of stoopid fucking wingnut lies and deceptions. ISIS is viable for the same reasons. Stoopid fucking wingnuts. Can't say that enough. Say it with me one time-stoopid fucking wingnuts. I feel better.

Anonymous said...

Conservative right=Nazi

Bold, James Bold said...

"Hillary was pilloried by stoopid fucking wingnuts for standing by her man"

Because he was her ticket back into the WH.  Except God-Emperor Donald J. Trump cancelled it.

"who, as it turns out, wasn't near the scumbag Roy Moore is."

You seriously think a few goodnight kisses given to 16, 17 and 18-yr olds comes to the level of propositioning state workers for sex all the time and having an intern blow him under the desk in the Oval Office... not to mention all the Arkancides?  You've got a truly sick view of morality, Mikey.  It explains your love of a sick, immoral, homicidal race.

"Conservative right=Nazi"

Keep saying that.  You'll get real Nazis, but by then it'll be too late.

mike from iowa said...

You seriously believe all those lies that were bought and paid for by Mellon-Scaife and other right wing wealthy people? Of course you do because you are a stoopid fucking wingnut.

Clinton didn't proposition state workers all the time or even ever. He didn't father any black children. He didn't kill Vince Foster. He and HRC paid over 50k dollars of debts in Whiterwater that there partner MacDougal ran up.

So stick a big black dick in it, Baldy. The Clintons are as pure as the driven snow and you are still a stoopid fucking wingnut.

James is a dumb pedophile said...

Keep saying that. You'll get real Nazis, but by then it'll be too late.
---------------
You mean like Candyman? If I say nazi three times in the mirror they appear?
You are certainly one dumb mother fucker James with your pedophile ass.

James is a pedophile who is full of shit said...

Is James more of a pedophile or pathological liar?

dinthebeast said...

Yes.

-Doug in Oakland

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