What in God's Name is Going On?
SCOTUS Trashes the Declaration of Independence. Plus, American Atheists' Alison Gill on Louisiana, Oklahoma, School Chaplains, Ten Commandments, Religious Indoctrination and other fresh hellishness.
SEASON 2, EPISODE 29: ALISON GILL
This was a massively nutty week in America. And I’m not even talking about a particular televised presidential debate or even the Supreme Court’s ruling on presidential immunity (see below).
In Louisiana, Governor Jeff Landry has signed a bill mandating that The Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom in the state.
In Oklahoma, in the wake of the state’s Supreme Court decision to disallow the establishment of the country’s first publicly-funded religious charter school, Ryan Waters, the state’s education superintendent, issued a requirement that “the bible” be placed in all public school classrooms and be incorporated “as an instructional support into the curriculum” across grades five through 12.
We parse the immediate and long-term implications of both of these issues with Alison Gill, Vice President for Legal and Policy at American Atheists.
Alison also helps us understand "the Chevron deference” in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo to ignore the expertise of federal agencies in favor of politically-appointed and inexpert judges with their own ideological leanings. This decision will impact the regulatory power of federal agencies, from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Environmental Protection Agency.
So much to unpack. Listen now.
GOODBYE TO ALL THAT
”We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
America, as we have known it, is officially over. The Supreme Court, now the country’s de facto ruler, has determined that in fact not all men are created equal. That the president, by his position (let’s just assume it’s a him, okay?), is more equal than everyone else and may choose to define, obey or disregard laws pertaining to him with impunity.
The court ruled that Trump enjoys “absolute” presidential immunity for “his core constitutional powers,” but that he “enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official.”
But what defines “official”? And how can it be interpreted and distorted by bad actors?
From The Washington Post
[Justice Sonia] Sotomayor warned that a president is now immune from criminal prosecution if he orders the Navy’s SEAL Team 6 to assassinate a political rival, or if he organizes a coup to hold on to political power.If he takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon?
“Immune. Immune, immune, immune,” the dissent reads.
“Even if these nightmare scenarios never play out, and I pray they never do, the damage has been done,” Sotomayor continued. “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.”
THAT DEBATE, AND WHAT HAPPENS NOW
Following Joe Biden’s historically bad debate performance last week, Democrats are more deeply divided than ever. It’s no longer campus-protesting Palestinian sympathizers displeased with Biden’s continued support of Netanyahu versus the old-school pro-Israel Jewish pillar of the Democratic party.
Now it’s those who continue to stand by Biden (who cares if he can speak or hold a thought in his head, when push comes to shove, he’ll do the right thing) and those demanding that he step down (he’s too old, he’s unfit, he’s unelectable, and the debate, which should have been a slam dunk, proved it!).
I stand firmly in both camps.
Stepping down would be without precedent, so what’s the plan? Whatever it is, it must at least appear to have been Biden’s idea. It would have to be Biden himself who presents a dignified hand-off as an act of selflessness in the best interest of the party and the country.
But what about the vice president? I’m not questioning Kamala’s abilities. She’s well up to the job. I question America, which remains so much a patriarchal nation, not to mention deeply racist and misogynistic, that if Hillary Clinton — arguably the single most qualified individual based on experience of any gender to ever run for the office — was beaten by a heavy-breathing, pussy-grabbing, lying and ignorant oaf, what chance does a half-Black, half-Asian woman have? A half-Black, half-Asian woman married to a Jew, no less! The smart money is on zero.
To change horses midrace, both she and Biden would have to jump together. And there is no clear alternative. And as Rev. William Barber has rightly pointed out, Democrats only come together behind “messiah candidates.” With that, I can’t get out of my head the voice of Billy Crystal impersonating Edward G. Robinson as Dathan in the film The Ten Commandments: “Where’s your messiah now?!”
Plenty of names have been bandied about, but do any rise to that definition?
For now, I also lean with the steadfast. I wasn’t always a lover of Biden, but he has served as a loyal and effective partner of President Obama and has done so much good for the country as president, that to throw him under the bus would seem unappreciative at best, reckless at worst.
Or, by remaining in the race, is he throwing us under the bus? Was his performance last week an aberration or the new reality?
Dan Pfeiffer, on this week’s Pod Save America, kinda nailed it: “My loyalty for Joe Biden in 100% conditional. He’s a representative of us, not the other way around.”
Joe must prove, and fast, that he’s up to the job. And if not, I can only hope the braniacs who run the party find the perfect solution.
But regardless of who’s on the Democratic ticket in November, we must all get on the bus or, thanks to our theocratic Supreme Court majority, there won’t be a next one.
And for American Democracy, it’ll be the end of the line.
On this Fifth of July, I’ll leave you with David Byrne’s tune, Independence Day.(Perhaps not coincidentally it’s from his 1989 Rei Momo album. Rei Momo, or King Momo, is the King of the Carnival in Latin American countries. A rotund character, his appearance signifies the beginning of the Carnival festivities. Read into that what you will.)
And though we struggle for our freedom
Our need for others still remains
We know what will make us happy
We know what will ease our pain.
The Follow-up
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