Heather Cox Richardson’s most recent newsletter was disturbing, to say the least. Since many (most?) of you read her contributions, you may have already seen what I’m about to share.
She starts her newsletter thus:
As the Biden administration sets out to restore a government that can regulate business to level the playing field in the United States between workers and employers, address inequality, and combat climate change, Republicans are turning to the courts to stop him.
The rest of her newsletter describes the many and various congressional actions the Republicans are putting forth to thwart Biden’s plan to foster equality.
As I read her remarks related to Republican actions, I kept asking myself, is this the best way to run a country of several million people? Removing the many and various regulations that are designed to level the playing field between the common people and Big Business?
I won’t go into the several actions being taken by the Republicans to accomplish their goal since she thoroughly outlines them in her newsletter. But I will say this: I was pretty astounded to read all that they’re doing. I suppose I shouldn’t be … but still, it’s often difficult to understand their point of view.
In essence, it sounds to me like they would be happy if the U.S. just abolished the Constitution. In fact, Heather reports that Justice Elena Kagan commented that some of their proposals would essentially mean that “most of Government is unconstitutional.”
Heather sums it up …
But that, of course, is the point. We are caught up in a struggle between two ideologies: one saying that the government has a significant role to play in keeping the playing field level in the American economy and society, and the other saying it does not.
One can’t help but wonder where all this will end up.
Nan's Notebook 
As I always say about the Repugnantcans and conservatives: they don’t hate big government, they’re too busy fleecing the government to hate it. That’s how they get rich. What they hate, with the power of a thousand suns, is democracy. If no one could vote but them they would think it the best thing in the world!
They are the scum of the Earth, as phony as Trumps’ tan.
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A sad and shameful state that this country has fallen into.
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I’m not surprised at their used of the courts, Nan. After all, the federal judiciary is a tool that they have been molding now, since at least the time of President Obama, by withholding nominations so that the next guy could move those nominations through at warp speed, which is exactly what happened.
Now, we have essentially two branches of the system set to check the power of the Executive branch, since the Senate still has the power to block most legislation, at this point.
That is why I work so hard, via my blog, both to ally with blogs like yours, Nan, that are looking more at current to intermediate-term views, to building long term tools that will help us to change this situation and keep it one based on empathy.
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In the next four years, we will see just how their ability to stuff the supreme court pays off. Then for a few generations into the future, it will be the seat of government.
Democrat legislators need to quit being the namby-pamby they look like to the public. They saw McConnel do away with the filibuster in order to accomplish Trump’s and the church’s agenda of a conservative court. If the past four years’ damage is not corrected in the next four years, we can forget about democracy, constitutions, and a republic.
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I don’t know when the people will wake up and see, that the goals of the R party are basically the same as Imperial rule. There was a reason, many years ago, there was a tea party in Boston.
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I think the time waiting for America to “wake -up” is long past. If they didn’t wake up during Trump admin, the 2016 elections, the caging of children, cutting Muslims out of the immigration process, calling our intelligence communities in to question against the word of Vladimir Putin, calling black nations “shitholes”, trying to leave NATO, etc. then I think we can safely assume there’s no chance of waking up ever.
The American people aren’t asleep, they’re brain dead.
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The fact that seemingly intelligent people can accept and support what the Repukes put forth makes me wonder if there isn’t something in the water …
Or are they just so totally indoctrinated that they can’t see they’re working against themselves when they support Republican ideology? SMH
P.S. I’m referencing the average citizen — not the ones with over-bloated bank accounts. They KNOW what’s going on.
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I get it. I’ve asked family members and friends many, many times “How can you vote for a party that NEVER does anything for you?” Repugnantcans have run on shutting down SS, MediCare and Medicaid and I’ve asked my father in law, “What are you going to do for health insurance?” While he has NO IDEA AT ALL He STILL votes GOP! They don’t seem to care. It’s almost as if they see it as some patriotic motion to vote GOP.
Boggles the mind….
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RaPaR, I was raised in such a clan. The first vote I ever cast was against Eisenhower in a mock election in HS. Stevenson was like a curse word. My mother thought FDR was from the very pit of Hell. My father was a coal miner and working a hardscrabble little farm, just to keep us all alive. My mother never had a pot to piss in but was religiously Republican. That was my star-crossed beginning and seventy-nine years and ten months later, I still can’t understand people in the laboring class voting Republican.
I think it may be a disease of a cross between Munchausen and Stockholm syndromes. A mental and emotional malfunction.
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No we aren’t. The majority voted against Trump in 2016; he was installed by the Electoral College. The turnout to get rid of him in 2020 was unprecedented, despite a massive campaign of vote suppression by the Republicans.
We need to push back hard against this elitist “the masses are stupid” mentality every time it rears its head. It’s an insult to the tens of millions who braved the pandemic and hours in line to get Trump out. It’s actually the savvy, connected, political-junkie, oh-I’m-so-aware-and-enlightened minority which is more prone to do stupid things like voting for a third candidate and letting the Republican win. Yes, there’s maybe a third of the population which is congenitally stupid and delusions, but “Americans” as a whole group are not.
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You make very good points. I suppose it’s just easy to ignore them when all that’s covered by the press is the idiocy of his followers.
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Good point. Yes, it was record turnout, and even then it was way closer than it should have been. Good people did endure many obstacles to get out and vote. It was a huge win for sanity and reason.
…but the brain dead dipsticks are numerous, they vote, and the R party is doing everything they can to put an obstacle course in front of voting machines everywhere, for anyone whos skin color has a shade of brown, black or red.
The “the savvy, connected, political-junkie, oh-I’m-so-aware-and-enlightened minority” are just another version of the brain dead, orange idiot, Faux News zombies, IMO. Too full of themselves for their own good. Unable to understand the stakes, and willing to vote for 3rd parties, write in their favorite cartoon character, or not vote at all because they can’t be bothered.
Every single election is going to matter as much as the last one going forward. We cannot rest on our laurels thinking it will work out. We have to become solidified as a voting block for sanity. Every, single, time. The R’s are doing everything they can right now, to cancel out votes in the near future. Instead of changing their ways, and moving towards the middle, they just want to cheat their way into power. Pathetic, low life scum, completely lacking in principle, honor, integrity, and empathy. They know damn well they can’t win on the message. They have to cheat to win, and have no qualms doing it. Right out in the open.
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I wish white voters could adopt the determination of the POC voters. I know there are also white people standing in some of those lines, but it is the Colored communities the voter suppression is aimed at. There was something like a 2.7 million vote disparity between Clinton and Trump and about 7 million between Biden and Trump. That surge of about three million votes, mostly from the Black community saved the election or at least a close recount. And that is what has the GOP, not searching for a better way to serve the voters, but how to suppress them.
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Well, when I’m talking to myself I’m in 100% agreement with that. But I try to be a wee bit nice in mixed company 🙂 It’s a process… I’m working on it. I’m especially trying here at Nan’s place 😉
But brain dead is about what I’m seeing every day here. I’m still driving past peoples houses who still have their orange idiot signs in the yard. As well as American flags bastardized with half US flag, half confederate flag, flying. And a good ole confederate flag flying for good measure. I live in brain dead zone.
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Thanks for mentioning the flag. Aren’t these the same people who stand against any misuse of the flag? They wear it like body armor while they assault the Republic for which it stands. Those are not patriots. They are seditionists.
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The majority of Americans were and are aware of the situation. Thanks to the Electoral College we had Trump. The Republicans have so gerrymandered and suppressed the vote in order to stay in office. In some GOP districts, they don’t even need to campaign. The Supreme Court refuses to act on those two issues.
When we have people holding public office who do not respect the constitution nor democratic process, who actually vote against the process, our government is in a dangerous situation.
Your comments point to the probable necessity of boots in the streets. People of color and liberal whites hold a majority of the electorate. If we can prevent capitalism, religion, and conservativism from fracturing our ranks, we can end this situation of minority rule.
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Hello Nan. I think Cagjr has explained the situation in terms of history and the robber barons in comments on my blog and I hope he will do so here as he is very good at it. Every since the creation of the new deal that let / began the government regulating business to take away businesses’ power to do anything they wished in the attempt to make even more profit, businesses and the wealthy have been trying to return to the glory days of their power. The Republicans ( and some cooperate Democrats ) are owned by big businesses. The rule for government that the wealthy demand is “The government must always serve the wants of the upper incomes, the wealthy, and large businesses, but must never work for the needs of the lower incomes and average people”. The Republicans further the desire of the wealthy that the workers must be desperate enough struggling to survive that they will accept any low wage and any bad working condition just to have a job.
The propaganda the Republicans have promoted that the US is #1 in all things, does everything the best, and that no other country does anything the US should follow. By demonizing the steps other developed countries have taken to promote the well being of the population by taxing the upper incomes the Republicans and far right have given the wealthy the perfect cover to prevent even suggestions of doing such things here.
As is brought out clearly in the last 30 years the Republicans do not want to and may even by their ideology be incapable of governing. Their talents increasingly are in working up the people who support them into a highly emotional state and outrage using wedge social issues. They want to keep the people divided. Divide and conquer. The Republican party has learned from Newt Gingrich to be bomb throwers politically and to have no shame as they accuse others of the very things they themselves are doing. They have no shame and can not be guilted into acting in a decent civilized manner.
The country as a whole is not on the side of the far right, and not on the side of the far left. The majority of the country is left leaning being ruled by the far right in the service of big business. Also I should point out that one of the lawsuits tying the hands of Biden administration is on immigration. The tRump people signed contracts with any locality and police group they could to try to stop Biden from changing immigration policy. Biden tried to implement a 100 day stop to any deportations to get a better system in place for hearings. A bunch of state AG’s sued. They won at the first court level, and then the state AG’s won again when Biden appealed. This is another Republican attempt to take any governing power away from a Democrat.
As with the lawsuits mentioned and with the fact that tRump / McConnell appointed mainly white men, do you think there is also a racist element to the Republican attempts to destroy governments ability to regulate businesses and to set policy and rules in the country? Hugs
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Scottie, either you didn’t read this post or you forgot what it says … 😋
Otherwise, your points are well-made and reinforce what Heather wrote.
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Hello Nan. Thanks for the link, I had missed that post. I offered a comment also. Hugs
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And I responded. 🙂
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Hello Nan. OT. Did you get a notice I liked the comment? The comments, likes, and reply system is not working quite correctly and I am worried it maybe doing that thing where I like something and it ignores that.
OT. We ordered wings, FF, a chicken Quesadilla, and some weird sandwich for Ron for supper. He is out getting it. Lately we have been trying to once a week support a local restaurant via take out. Sadly we have had to watch the money too much to do this during the last year. I have missed eating out. But on the other hand, we both are really good cooks and have gained weight instead of lost. Hugs
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Yes, the “like” came through. I’ve found that every so often, WP will insist I’m not “logged in” so they won’t acknowledge my “like.” Grrrr!
Careful with the gaining weight! Losing it is a LOT harder! And not near as much fun.
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I think you said it well enough, Scottie.
Racism? Absolutely racist. We can start with today’s white supremacists and work our way back to the slaveholders when the colonists created the constitution. Or vice versa. They held the ratification of the constitution hostage until they gained the 3/5 person for slaves, who of course, were not allowed to vote, and the electoral college. (Electors)
The slavers relied on the church to sanctify their enterprise, just as they do today. The slavers were the capitalists demanding controlling interest in the government. Just observe the church and Confederate symbols in the videos of the insurrection on 01/06. They are mutual support and admiration societies.
For anyone who wonders about the pressure the Christian Nationalists put on the other churches, there is no doubt. They vocalize their threat to other churches which might resist the agenda. And the white community has ways to put pressure on society. They have pet names for white liberals who support minority groups. (We will not repeat them here, please.)
Anyone thinking the church and capitalism will lead to freedom is so poorly informed. Or self-deceived. Hugs.
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The wingnuts are turning to the courts because that’s all they’ve got, now that the voters have given us back control of Congress (however narrowly) and the presidency.
I find this strategy less worrying than it appears at first. Electoral-Vote.com, perhaps the best political analysis site I know of, has addressed this issue several times. Most of the Supreme Court’s judges, especially Roberts, are reluctant to do anything really radical, especially if it has no real basis in the Constitution. If they did, Congress has options, from enlarging the Supreme Court to creating a new court to which most of the SC’s current jurisdiction would be transferred. Either way, Biden would appoint the new judges and the Senate could confirm them with a simple majority.
It’s already clear that the Democrats are in no mood to play along with the Republicans’ bullshit this time around. If they find that the courts are blocking vital legislation that large majorities of the people want, they’ll take action to remove the obstacle. Roberts knows that.
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I wish you were, I hope you are right about the Supreme Court acting judiciously. The GOP went to a lot of trouble to stuff the court. Capitalism and the church expect a return on their investment.
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It is made out to be about freedom. Yes? Demanding deregulation sounds (to the uneducated, ignorant, fearfull and the stupid) like it is about freedom and liberty, but if there are no regulations the weak will suffer under the tyranny of the strong. The strong know this.
Many physically and legally adult people are emotionally and intellectually not much more than childish kids, with their personal short term interrest driving them to do incredibly selfish acts and act out of fear of the unknown. They seem to understand very little of politics and are driven by group identity and tribal moralism. Such people are easily moved to do what ever atrocities, because they truly do not understand what is right or wrong, nor why.
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Excellent points, rautakyy! Especially your last paragraph. That is my impression as well.
I know those who oppose Biden are going to naysay any and all of the good things he does, but hopefully during the next four years they’ll begin to see that a Democratic CAN make their lives better.
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is this the best way to run a country of several billion people?
Uh, which country did you have in mind here? The US has a population of less than one-third of a billion. The two most populous countries on Earth are India and China at about 1.4 billion each.
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So I hit the wrong key. So sue me! 😜
(Thanks for the catch. Funny that no one else noticed. Even me.)
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I think Heather Cox Richardson has read several times Duke University’s Professor of History & Public Policy, Nancy MacLean’s recent book on all of this Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America. When I read this newsletter by Richardson, it was like I was reviewing everything Dr. MacLean wrote.
It is so nice to know that other experts and Professors like alums from Harvard University and teaching at Boston College know all too well what the ultra-Conservatives and Republicans have been master-minding since the later days of James M. Buchanan in 1968-69 and beyond. From The Atlantic 2017:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/07/the-architect-of-the-radical-right/528672/
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