Category Archives: civil rights

Trump’s Victory

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Democrats thought they had a good issue. They’d pass still another continuing resolution to reopen the government in return for an agreement from Republicans to extend special subsidies for insurance policies bought through the Affordable Care Act. They misjudged the willingness of Donald Trump to continue his war on America by inflicting more pain on the American people. Cut food assistance for more than forty million Americans? Sure. Cripple the air traffic system by requiring controllers to work without pay? Of course. Furlough hundreds of thousands of federal workers and threaten to penalize them by not restoring their wages when they return to work. No problem.

Democrats underestimated Trump’s need to inflict pain. He loves it. He gets off on it. Nothing massages his massive ego more than enjoying a luxury party at his Florida home while people can’t buy food. If they can’t get groceries, let them eat cake. The ACA is also known as Obamacare. Trump hates Obamacare. A doubling or tripling of premium rates for Obamacare insurance policies just gives Trump more ammunition to attack the program. Trump has been trying to kill Obamacare for decades. He insists he will replace it with something better. He never produces a new plan. His supporters don’t seem to mind. So, Trump would not give in to the Democrats no matter what.

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No Kings

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Anywhere from five to eight million people turned out for the second “No Kings” protests across the nation. The rallies took place in over 2,600 locations across the United States.

I have first or secondhand knowledge of protests in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. They were peaceful. Crowds were almost jubilant at having an opportunity to voice their opposition to the actions of the Trump administration. The only place I heard Trump supporters showed up to counter the protest was Palo Alto, California. No Kings protesters refused to engage with the Trumpies, who they feared were trying to provoke them.

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It is a Nice Idea

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Free speech is a pain in the rear. Always has been. Always will be.

It is a nice idea. If you have freedom of speech, you have the right to say whatever is on your mind without fear of repercussions. But there is a rub. It also means the guy standing next to you has freedom of speech. That means he can say whatever is on his mind, even if you find it to be abhorrent, disgusting, threatening and maybe even dangerous.

The men who designed our government met in secret and wrote a historic document detailing the structure of the national state and enumerating the powers and responsibilities of its parts. When the document was made public, the people were not pleased. They demanded a guarantee of their rights be written into the document.

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Trump Invades D.C.

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The tourist season in Washington, officially the “District of Columbia,” begins in April, about the time the cherry blossoms bloom. The nation’s capital is especially beautiful at that time. It is when school children from all over the nation arrive on a traditional trip to see the places they are familiar with from the news and to see the documents, faded though they may be, that were written to create the world’s first Constitutional democratic republic.

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Hip hip for Harvard

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Whether it was a high school football game on a Friday night or a college matchup you have probably all participated in a roaring cheer at one time or another. Anyone who has been following these posts for a while knows that I earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton many years ago where I cheered on many a Princeton team. The college cheer was in fact heard for the first time at the famous first ever college football game between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869.

I write that preamble so that you get the significance of my rousing cheer for Harvard, Princeton’s rival among rivals in the league of elite universities. It is special when a Princeton tiger is moved to compliment people who wear crimson robes. Harvard does have a mascot I am told. But it appears to be an inanimate statue of the school’s founder, which must look strange along the sidelines. I digress.

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Poor John Roberts

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John Roberts is annoyed. I had picked a stronger word, but Merriam-Webster says my word is considered vulgar in both Britian and the United States, so I chickened out.

Please take note. When the Chief Justice of the United States is annoyed he clearly expects us all to pay heed. I spent all of three seconds taking heed. And then began laughing uncontrollably.

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The Supremes Vote

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One thing is clear about this year’s election for president. The Supreme Court intends to cast its vote. The Court, driven by the conservative majority, rushed to hand Donald Trump a victory the day before Super Tuesday, the day fifteen states, including Colorado, hold primary elections. It even went as far as to announce on a Sunday that it would be handing down a ruling the next day. And it leaked the subject so loudly every story that night predicted it would be a decision in Trump v. Anderson.

In Trump v. Anderson, all nine justices agreed that states lack the power to enforce Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against presidential candidates. All nine justices ruled in favor of Trump on this question. I’d like to pat myself on the back here because I predicted this outcome not long ago. I’d like to, but I won’t, because nearly every other court watcher made the same prediction.

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