The indictment of the Chicago 5 is not the first, maybe not the second or third, and probably not the last time that prosecutors appointed by Trump either did not understand Grand Jury behavior or chose to do things before the Grand Jury that were just plain illegal.
This is not the only bad behavior on the part of the executive direction of federal courts.
Sure, you do you. But don't expect me to think this is going to be any kind of 'fix'. All it will take is a two-term fascist and some 'patriotic' maneuvering to re-pack in their right-wing fix. I think we're long past institutional patches on what is fundamentally a citizen problem. We had a good run, institutional guardrails held as long as they were respected, mostly, because of self-interest. But that's all gone now, the Prisoner's Dilemma is in full swing and nobody's going back to all that "18th Century Gentlemen" thinking. Nobody looks beyond the next 'win' to the ultimate outcomes of these escalations.
If we can't persuade our fellow citizens to reign in their savage, easily-manipulated, passions, our goose is well and thoroughly cooked. No amount of institutional plumbing can correct for it otherwise.
GOP expands state courts to win, dems like Spanberger in VA, accept the loss and do nothing. That is why America is in the shape it is in with the most incompetent admin in American history.
The Roberts 6 are part of the group attempting to take over America....They do NOT serve or work for America......they are Traitors and should be treated as such.......The Roberts 6 MUST be brought down, dismantled, held to account with jail if need be, removed, and replaced with a court that actually serves the people with changes that insure that NONE of this ever happens again. Some suggestions to fixed the Corruption - No lifetime appointments, Term limits, Ethics Standards enforced Upon them, IG to investigate any hint of corruption, No President can nominate more than 2 justices EVER, Expand the court, Rotate the Chief Justice, Justices MUST appear before Congressional committees if subpoenaed, If they LIE during confirmation hearings they are removed IMMEDIATELY never to serve again, Stagger terms of all justices, Impeach and Remove them............
No disagreement, Murray. But I think it will be nearly impossible to bring down the six fascists in black robes. Fortunately, the Constitution does not fix a number of justices. Therefore I think the most facile (easiest and fastest) approach to diluting their influence would be to increase the number of justices. Although neither automatic nor fully popular (check FDR's history), it can be done without change the Constitution.
Whatever works.......and from as many directions as possible.......with whatever ideas take hold.......they must know that we are coming for them.........and they will be dealt with.........and no get out of jail free cards......
One hates to burst anyone’s bubble but this cost of living crisis that Americans are currently seeing is not something that happened in the last 18m Of course WE the People would expect that POTUS would do something, anything to try to deal with this economic problem But like COVID Cheeto is completely over his incompetent head to handle the matter
The fact is this The US dollar has become worthless as a fiat currency In terms of gold the value of the dollar is 4 to 6 cents of what it was in 1971 when Nixon took the country off a gold standard Let that sink in for a moment The dollar in your wallet has the purchasing power of 4 to 6 cents while many if not most salaries have not kept up with the cost of living due to the ineptness of elected officials(https://bit.ly/4f4L9BG) Currencies are not money, just a front for credit and not money Gold/sliver is money and the US Constitution calls for a metallic standard for its money
In a historical perspective in the early 1920’s after WWI postwar Germany’s economy seemed to be humming along without a gold standard until it wasn’t and by 1922 people were burning Reichsmarks to stay warm Saliently the politicians knew the currency was in trouble but didn’t do anything about it And there are numerous examples littered throughout history of countries that have flirted with a fiat currency and all have ended in disaster Now Deutsche Bank predicts $8000/oz gold
China knows this It sits on 70K tonnes(the US has an unaudited 8Ktonnes) and many American financial commentators like Ray Dalio are warning of a financial crisis Cheeto will preside over the next Great Depression and will make GW Bush’s Great Recession look like a picnic
WE the People should demand that this issue be front and center as an election issue for now and until the country is put back on a gold standard but the major lesson is that gold is not an investment It’s a way to protect your wealth
But here's the beauty of all this: it's coming to a head on Donny's watch. The Great AI Layoff And Tariff-War Depression will be *his* fault. Until the sun cools. What I'm hoping is that it puts a bit of a dent in the triumphalist right-wing romp that's been underway for so long. Their bovine voters may come to realize that they cooked their own goose and have another think about what to support. Or not, and the fuckery continues forever.
Interesting that these financial disasters are started by Republicans eg Hoover and 1929, Nixon/Ford with loss of gold standard with later 1970's massive inflation, GW and Great Recession, and now Cheeto and the coming second Great Depression Racism and nonsensical economic policy eg trickle down economics, tax breaks for wealthy with ever growing wealth gap, hollowing out of middle class, oligarchic rule, these are all the things the Republicans do to destroy the democratic republic
The President has few tools to reduce prices, but he has used tools (illegally in some cases) that will increase prices. The Fed has the tools, but they are not as effective in dealing with supply shocks (think Covid disruptions, oil shortages, or excessive death of chickens and so fewer eggs)
Outside of big supply shocks the Fed has managed prices levels pretty well. The gold standard requires a system wide shift (unlikely to happen) to provide a serious anchor. The “choice” to blow up the gold standard was that of Richard Nixon*, a political decision that shocked the world.
You can make gold your store of value if you want. I doubt you (much less the US) have the power to turn back the clock.
*A bit of history
The maldistribution of gold, Germany/Austrian reparations and increased trade barriers wrecked the economies of the interconnected world following WWI. A spectacular world wide recession came next, followed by WWIi. Near the war's end. a handful of countries organized discussions laying the basis for returning to the gold standard using lessons learned. It was NOT an actual gold standard but more of a dollar standard based on the very large gold reserves in the US. It was somewhat successful because reparations were not as onerous, the maldistribution of gold mattered less because the IMF was invented to help the dollar standard survive. Also trade restrictions were reduced over decades.
NIXON ended the gold backing of the dollar unilaterally in the early 1970s.
Actually Biden employed a number of tactics to bring down the inflation rate after the COVID mismanagement by Cheeto, especially dealing with the logjam due to the supply chain disruption
The Supreme Court IS political. It's decisions have been inconsistent in a decidedly biased way.
Can't decide when too close to an election UNLESS it serves the Republicans.
Can't enforce legal maps when illegal maps can't be changed too close to an election BECAUSE it serves the Republicans.
Endorse partisan gerrymandering and negate decades old voting rights law IF it benefits Republicans no matter how close to the election. Even if candidates have filed, run campaigns and voters have cast ballots. In other words BECAUSE the changes serve the Republicans.
This is beyond biased it is sickening. Thank you for mentioning Ohio. The state Supreme Court tried to enforce what VOTERS chose (independent maps). It failed and gerrymandering allows the local legislature to turn Ohio from a swing state to one easily purchased by Republicans who are increasingly funded by outside donations.
It is NOT just Trump who is trampling on rights, destroying democratic norms and reducing the power of justice. He is being aided and abetted by the current Supreme Court and district courts where litigants work hard to shop for a court that will uphold their “side”.
How have we allowed courts to be corrupted? VOTERS can be blamed for choosing a corrupt Trump regime. but they are NOT responsible for the corruption of courts. In only a few states can voters or courts restrain what maps are drawn by state legislatures.
The overturning of Roe couldn't have happened at a better time for those who oppose abortion. If gerrymandering can be partisan, there is little chance that voters can choose the right to abortion at the state level, it will be unlikely for states rights to generate different choices when maps can be chosen to frustrate majority opinion, and legislatures can be manipulated to chip away at what voters choose.
The indictment of the Chicago 5 is not the first, maybe not the second or third, and probably not the last time that prosecutors appointed by Trump either did not understand Grand Jury behavior or chose to do things before the Grand Jury that were just plain illegal.
This is not the only bad behavior on the part of the executive direction of federal courts.
Sure, you do you. But don't expect me to think this is going to be any kind of 'fix'. All it will take is a two-term fascist and some 'patriotic' maneuvering to re-pack in their right-wing fix. I think we're long past institutional patches on what is fundamentally a citizen problem. We had a good run, institutional guardrails held as long as they were respected, mostly, because of self-interest. But that's all gone now, the Prisoner's Dilemma is in full swing and nobody's going back to all that "18th Century Gentlemen" thinking. Nobody looks beyond the next 'win' to the ultimate outcomes of these escalations.
If we can't persuade our fellow citizens to reign in their savage, easily-manipulated, passions, our goose is well and thoroughly cooked. No amount of institutional plumbing can correct for it otherwise.
GOP expands state courts to win, dems like Spanberger in VA, accept the loss and do nothing. That is why America is in the shape it is in with the most incompetent admin in American history.
If Dems shirk on court reform, it means they selected totally wrong candidates.
They have to be very aggressive in insisting on rectifying rump regime wrongs.
"Packing" is a terribly misleading and inflamatory term. Stop already!
So, what did the Mitch-and-Donnie tango team do, then?
The Roberts 6 are part of the group attempting to take over America....They do NOT serve or work for America......they are Traitors and should be treated as such.......The Roberts 6 MUST be brought down, dismantled, held to account with jail if need be, removed, and replaced with a court that actually serves the people with changes that insure that NONE of this ever happens again. Some suggestions to fixed the Corruption - No lifetime appointments, Term limits, Ethics Standards enforced Upon them, IG to investigate any hint of corruption, No President can nominate more than 2 justices EVER, Expand the court, Rotate the Chief Justice, Justices MUST appear before Congressional committees if subpoenaed, If they LIE during confirmation hearings they are removed IMMEDIATELY never to serve again, Stagger terms of all justices, Impeach and Remove them............
No disagreement, Murray. But I think it will be nearly impossible to bring down the six fascists in black robes. Fortunately, the Constitution does not fix a number of justices. Therefore I think the most facile (easiest and fastest) approach to diluting their influence would be to increase the number of justices. Although neither automatic nor fully popular (check FDR's history), it can be done without change the Constitution.
Whatever works.......and from as many directions as possible.......with whatever ideas take hold.......they must know that we are coming for them.........and they will be dealt with.........and no get out of jail free cards......
100% AGREEMENT.
Inflation: The Need For A Gold Standard
One hates to burst anyone’s bubble but this cost of living crisis that Americans are currently seeing is not something that happened in the last 18m Of course WE the People would expect that POTUS would do something, anything to try to deal with this economic problem But like COVID Cheeto is completely over his incompetent head to handle the matter
The fact is this The US dollar has become worthless as a fiat currency In terms of gold the value of the dollar is 4 to 6 cents of what it was in 1971 when Nixon took the country off a gold standard Let that sink in for a moment The dollar in your wallet has the purchasing power of 4 to 6 cents while many if not most salaries have not kept up with the cost of living due to the ineptness of elected officials(https://bit.ly/4f4L9BG) Currencies are not money, just a front for credit and not money Gold/sliver is money and the US Constitution calls for a metallic standard for its money
In a historical perspective in the early 1920’s after WWI postwar Germany’s economy seemed to be humming along without a gold standard until it wasn’t and by 1922 people were burning Reichsmarks to stay warm Saliently the politicians knew the currency was in trouble but didn’t do anything about it And there are numerous examples littered throughout history of countries that have flirted with a fiat currency and all have ended in disaster Now Deutsche Bank predicts $8000/oz gold
China knows this It sits on 70K tonnes(the US has an unaudited 8Ktonnes) and many American financial commentators like Ray Dalio are warning of a financial crisis Cheeto will preside over the next Great Depression and will make GW Bush’s Great Recession look like a picnic
WE the People should demand that this issue be front and center as an election issue for now and until the country is put back on a gold standard but the major lesson is that gold is not an investment It’s a way to protect your wealth
But here's the beauty of all this: it's coming to a head on Donny's watch. The Great AI Layoff And Tariff-War Depression will be *his* fault. Until the sun cools. What I'm hoping is that it puts a bit of a dent in the triumphalist right-wing romp that's been underway for so long. Their bovine voters may come to realize that they cooked their own goose and have another think about what to support. Or not, and the fuckery continues forever.
Interesting that these financial disasters are started by Republicans eg Hoover and 1929, Nixon/Ford with loss of gold standard with later 1970's massive inflation, GW and Great Recession, and now Cheeto and the coming second Great Depression Racism and nonsensical economic policy eg trickle down economics, tax breaks for wealthy with ever growing wealth gap, hollowing out of middle class, oligarchic rule, these are all the things the Republicans do to destroy the democratic republic
The President has few tools to reduce prices, but he has used tools (illegally in some cases) that will increase prices. The Fed has the tools, but they are not as effective in dealing with supply shocks (think Covid disruptions, oil shortages, or excessive death of chickens and so fewer eggs)
Outside of big supply shocks the Fed has managed prices levels pretty well. The gold standard requires a system wide shift (unlikely to happen) to provide a serious anchor. The “choice” to blow up the gold standard was that of Richard Nixon*, a political decision that shocked the world.
You can make gold your store of value if you want. I doubt you (much less the US) have the power to turn back the clock.
*A bit of history
The maldistribution of gold, Germany/Austrian reparations and increased trade barriers wrecked the economies of the interconnected world following WWI. A spectacular world wide recession came next, followed by WWIi. Near the war's end. a handful of countries organized discussions laying the basis for returning to the gold standard using lessons learned. It was NOT an actual gold standard but more of a dollar standard based on the very large gold reserves in the US. It was somewhat successful because reparations were not as onerous, the maldistribution of gold mattered less because the IMF was invented to help the dollar standard survive. Also trade restrictions were reduced over decades.
NIXON ended the gold backing of the dollar unilaterally in the early 1970s.
Actually Biden employed a number of tactics to bring down the inflation rate after the COVID mismanagement by Cheeto, especially dealing with the logjam due to the supply chain disruption
The Supreme Court IS political. It's decisions have been inconsistent in a decidedly biased way.
Can't decide when too close to an election UNLESS it serves the Republicans.
Can't enforce legal maps when illegal maps can't be changed too close to an election BECAUSE it serves the Republicans.
Endorse partisan gerrymandering and negate decades old voting rights law IF it benefits Republicans no matter how close to the election. Even if candidates have filed, run campaigns and voters have cast ballots. In other words BECAUSE the changes serve the Republicans.
This is beyond biased it is sickening. Thank you for mentioning Ohio. The state Supreme Court tried to enforce what VOTERS chose (independent maps). It failed and gerrymandering allows the local legislature to turn Ohio from a swing state to one easily purchased by Republicans who are increasingly funded by outside donations.
It is NOT just Trump who is trampling on rights, destroying democratic norms and reducing the power of justice. He is being aided and abetted by the current Supreme Court and district courts where litigants work hard to shop for a court that will uphold their “side”.
How have we allowed courts to be corrupted? VOTERS can be blamed for choosing a corrupt Trump regime. but they are NOT responsible for the corruption of courts. In only a few states can voters or courts restrain what maps are drawn by state legislatures.
The overturning of Roe couldn't have happened at a better time for those who oppose abortion. If gerrymandering can be partisan, there is little chance that voters can choose the right to abortion at the state level, it will be unlikely for states rights to generate different choices when maps can be chosen to frustrate majority opinion, and legislatures can be manipulated to chip away at what voters choose.
SICKENING!
The entire Nazi Republican party is at fault They shouldn't be allowed to hold office for decades until the manipulated power dynamics are leveled