
SUMMARY: Are those who do not remember history doomed to repeat it? It seems like we are. Here it is days after SCOTUS dropped the limited immunity turd on our democracy, and we’re still wringing our pearls and clutching our fainting couches, and falling onto our hands about Biden so old. Do we remember how we got a 6-3 Court? Are we happy with the decisions of the Robert’s White Nationalist Full Fascist Court? Do we realize the connection between voting and the Court? For the love of god and the ability of our climate to support seven billion people, make Election 2016 the rallying cry of this election. Remind everyone near and far, young and old that “punishing” the Democratic Party for nominating Clinton is what got us into the current mess we’re in, and the only way out is voting for Biden and the Democrats — worst band name ever, BTW.
KEY WORDS: SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Robert’s Court, Limited Immunity, Trump, All People Are Created Equally, No One is Above the Law, Democracy, Super Power, Election 2016, Election 2024
COMMENT: Did you have Biden’s poor debate performance as your Black Swan on your Election 2024 score card? How can this be the reality we’re living in?
To say that our democracy is circling the drain is no longer an adequate metaphor. It’s more like our democracy is the whole kernel of corn eaten at a Fourth of July cookout stuck in a turn that is on its second flush in the bottom of the toilet.
The Supreme Court’s Gift to Trump and Only Trump
When the Supreme Court did Trump a solid and gifted him with “limited” immunity, they have all but hermetically sealed our democracy in the cremation urn and placed it in a mausoleum that white people can visit on their way to vote for preselected winning candidates.
Of course, the limited part of limited immunity means that it is limited to Republicans. That’s the limit. The Roberts Court has defined itself by its willingness to twist our legal system into gordian knots to achieve the political outcomes they desire.
The Struggle for All People Are Created Equally
The superpower of our democracy is that all people are created equally. We have never fully achieved that, but it is our aspirational goal and for the past 247 years, we’ve staggered incrementally towards it… until now. Originally, it was said that all MEN were created equally by GOD, and by MEN, sorry textualists, they meant property owning prosperous white men because god loves them the best. It eventually meant that we couldn’t own other real live human beings unless they’re in prison — Hello, aptly numbered 13th Amendment! — but that only came about after an upwards of 850,000 real live dead Americans and traitors died to make it so. Nowadays, it has been extended to men and women and Black and Brown people and people with funny religions and names that god-fearing white people don’t quite understand or trust.
While extending the quality of all people being created equally has been a struggle, it has been an even bigger struggle to extended it to the rich, famous, and well-positioned in power. We’ve only ever had four impeachments of three presidents. Given the difficulty of achieving an impeachment vote in the House much less a conviction in the Senate, that a single person represents two impeachments, tells you a lot. In fact, that three people out of forty-six have been impeached tells you how difficult it is to actually hold a president accountable while in office — it makes my skin itchy to be using the word president such close conjunction with the felonious rapist — and that one of them accounts for HALF of all of the impeachments in American history, tells you how just blatantly that one person committed high crimes and misdemeanors.
Equality Before the Law, the Super Power of Our Democracy
The all people created equally part of the American democratic consciousness is the foundation of our government. We frequently interpret it as meaning no person is above the law. Any person, no matter how powerful or well connected, theoretically, should be indictable and tried before a jury of their peers, and by peers, I mean people registered to vote who can’t come up with a good excuse about why they shouldn’t be sitting in a jury pool.
Granting Republican presidents that the six member majority of SCOTUS any immunity from prosecution limited or otherwise blows the Phineas Gage’s tamping iron through the brain of our democracy. We will be fortunate indeed if we can make as good of a recovery as Gage did to the damage done to us.
Election 2016: Lessons Forgotten
As we stand over the big toilet that is our metaphorical government scratching our ass and wondering why the corn inflected turd won’t flush, we’d be doing well to remember that this is a similar moment to that we faced in Election 2016. You remember Election 2016, don’t you? The one that Clinton couldn’t lose to the bumbling buffoon of a caricature of a human being until she did because too many liberals thought the Democratic Party should be punished for not nominating a more likable appealing candidate rather than the best qualified person to ever run for the office.
It’s the Supreme Court, Stupid!
You remember Election 2016, the one where we saw the unraveling of our barely tenable 5-4 minority on the Supreme Court, the morbid death watch of RBG torturing a frail sick older woman to literally by forcing her to hold on to her life and position as long as possible, and the collective liberal pundits and social media wise-asses, respond with “Doh! You IDIOTS, it was always the Supreme Court! Liberals always forget that presidential elections are about the Supreme Court. No one listened to me because I always knew it to be true and said it frequently, but would anyone listen? Noooo, because all y’all are IDIOTS and now we’re in a heap of trouble.” You remember Election 2016, right?
Election 2024: History Repeats
Those same liberal pundits and wise-asses are now telling us that Biden is OLD!!1! OMG so old!!!?! and should step aside forgetting that the presidential election is about the Supreme Court and that our democracy is literally sitting at the bottom of the toilet bowl unable to survive the next flush.
The Stakes of Election 2024: Remembering the LAST TIME
For the love of god, our rallying cry for Joe Biden and Election 2024 should be Remember Election 2016! We cannot make that same mistake again. We cannot seriously be contemplating allowing this person within pee-hooker pissing distance of the Resolute Desk, the American Constitution, and American values:
- BLACK JOBS. Need anyone say anything more? Seriously? The person whose world view is so segregated by race that they would casually use the term black jobs as a justification for support from the black community.
- BALLOONING AND BLOATING THE DEFICIT AND DEBT. During Trump’s first term his near permanent tax cuts for the billionaires and much smaller tax cuts and much more temporary for the middle class allowed the deficit and debt to grow to Ghost Buster’s Marshmallow Man proportions. The person who sworn goal is to transfer the wealth of the middle class to the one percent as quickly and destructively as possible.
- THE CHICKEN-SHIT SABER RATTLER. This is the person who
- Has allowed Iran the chance to develop a nuclear weapon twenty years before they would have otherwise had he just done nothing and maintained the Obama treaty with them.
- Over reacted to a minor aggression by Iran by killing Soleimani and plunging us into another dangerous round of tit-for-tat revenge.
- Knowingly, wantonly, and aggressively put Biden in a stranglehold in the withdrawal from Afghanistan allowing untold human suffering all so he could run on Biden’s “incompetence” in 2024.
- Lost a carrier group because he couldn’t be bothered to learn how the chain of command actually works.
- SCUTTLED A BIPARTISAN IMMIGRATION AGREEMENT. He commanded the House Freedumb Cockups to prevent the passage of a bipartisan immigration bill so he could have it as an issue in the 2024 election or they would face the vaunted and feared flying monkey squad.
- CLIMATE CHANGE. He promptly pulled us out of the Paris Climate Accord because it might some 100 billionaire fossil fuel executive miss his chance at becoming a 500 billionaire before the climate collapses and the human population shrinks by billions almost over night.
- TARIFFS. As far as anyone can tell, he seems to actually think that TARIFFS raise money for the federal government instead of jacking up prices for consumers and fueling inflation. He seems to genuinely believe this rather than it joining the multitude of lies pouring from this lie-hole.
- SELLING STATE SECRETS. He forced the granting of a security clearance for known security risk, Jar-Jar Binkshner who promptly sold state secrets to Saudi Prince Bone Saws for fun and profit.
- ONE MILLION UNNECESSARY PAINFUL DEATHS. He allowed over a million real live dead Americans to die painful unnecessary deaths by ignoring the #COVID19 pandemic and pandering to his base.
Do we need to continue the list? Seriously. How in any form or fashion of reality can the felonious rapist have even a Pat Paulson shot at winning?
Remember Election 2016! That’s the rallying cry. Be avowed, say it loud, say it proud, Remember Election 2016!

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Image Attribution
The image was found on Newtown Grafitti’s Flicker account using a DuckDuckGo Creative Commons search.






Managing the Democratic Party has often been likened to herding cats, and the 2016 election stands as a prime example. I’m also reminded of 1968, with a President, hammered by critics from all sides (in not all cases unjustly) declaring late in the game that he would not run again. The result was a chaotic convention, an unpopular nominee seen as “weak”, and a landslide loss.
Joe Biden undoubtedly remembers both of those elections well. He could easily see what a tragedy his dropping out could become. He needs, and we need, and need badly, a UNITED Democratic Party, everybody, top to bottom and all the influencers behind one candidate, and every candidate all the way down the ballot. The snipers from the sides about who’s old, or up or down in the polls, or whatever need to get over themselves and get on with winning for the candidates we have.
Joe will not drop out unless he sees the party united 100% behind his replacement. He knows that anything less would be lethal to the party and our democracy.
So, get in line cats and all get marching in the same direction, a pride of lions, not fighting ally cats.
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Howdy Bob!
The problem with a social media-based society is that everyone is vying against everyone else to be heard and everyone has a shot at going viral, the biggest prize there is nowadays, ain’t that right “Hawk Tuah Girl?” When the only way to grab the golden apple as your horse on the merry-go-round goes past it is to have the hottest hot take that defames the target group of your tribe the most, then that’s what you do. Once the most outrageous thing that someone has said catches on, the only thing left to do is get your variation of it out there and ride the wave.
I guess if I were a better social mediaer, I would be trying to craft the perfect hot take that would center supporting Biden, saving Democracy, and helping us maintain a climate that continue to support 7 billion people living on the planet, but I’m not. I’ve spent the past eight years proving that.
So, the political psychology blogger in me is having an existential crisis because all psychology signs at this point indicate that the herd is stampeding away from Biden and actually into Trump’s camp. We may be surprised if it doesn’t happen, but man it certainly feels that way from my perspective over her in Phnom Penh.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Then there is the tendency to think that being the skeptic and critic makes one look smart. Conventional wisdom is often wrong, but not always. Just going against it may seem news worthy, but not necessarily brilliant.
I suspect that in the longer view, Joe Biden’s refusal to be hounded out of the race about one bad night seen as “weak” will be seen as evidence of real strength. Nobody has not has a bad day, a brain feeling turned to mush by a cold or jet lag, the times we devoutly wished we could call in sick, but had to go to work anyway.
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Howdy Bob!
I’ve spent the week thinking about this. The effect that Biden’s one bad debate has had on the race, while unbelievable, isn’t without precedent. There was the Nixon-Kennedy debate. Nixon never really recovered from that visual impression. While there is still a lot of weeks left until the elections, and new issues come up, and there will be another shiny thing, the impression created in the collective American mind by the reaction to that debate (only 50 million people actually watched it), might be immovable.
Huzzah!
Jack
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It might, but for all practical purposes the Dems are out of time to change horses. I hear no actual plan being presented by any of the “dump Joe” crowd to have the convention delegates choose a replacement before the Ohio filing deadline (8/7). So, their job becomes to stop saying he can’t win, and go out and work to change that.
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Howdy Bob!
The whole dump Biden thing is driving me nuts. It is an unforced error by the Dems. If everyone just shut up about it, it woulda passed outta the newscycle. All attempts by the R’s to keep in the cycle could’ve been cited as just playing politics and a new shiny thing woulda shown up for the press to horserace over.
The longer stories are written about replacing Biden, the more questions about his viability as a candidate will be validated and reified. As a party strategy, it just doesn’t make sense. As an individual ambition strategy to position yourself in the Harris wing of the party, it does.
All of that said, Biden has been underestimated before and reports of his demise have been made before, and Biden’s beaten expectations. Don’t bet against the Biden is all I can say. Like many First Ladies, I bet Jill is the one who pulls out the daggers.
Huzzah!
Jack
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If there is a politician on the planet who can easily understand the consequences if he were to drop out now, when the party has no plan how to choose a placement nominee before the Ohio filing deadline, it is Joe Biden. Failure to meet that deadline would give all of Ohio’s Electoral College votes to Trump, disenfranchise all Democrat and Democrat leaning voters in the state, and that, combined with a chaotic contested convention to follow would make the party look incompetent and discourage voters everywhere. The message would be that those Democrats can’t even run their own party, let alone the country, and the GOP would pound that drum loud and long. If the critics can’t assure him that they will, without fail, have a new nominee in time, he can’t quit.
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Howdy Bob!
I really don’t get the Democrats motivation here. I get the motivation of the for-profit press. They need to keep the soap opera going. But, the Dems? On the one hand it is the behavioral economics principle, no one wants to take a risk unless it is to avoid a sure loss. They’re looking at Biden as a sure loss, but why? What incumbent president has lost when the economy was good? Have they really allowed themselves to be captured by the Republican-Russian disinformation campaign? Do they have polling data that we don’t? Or are their motivations far more personal and selfish?
Who is pushing the narrative within the party? Who is twisting arms getting pols to publicly voice concerns? Who got to Welch?
When what you’re looking at seems crazy, then you know there are other forces at work. There’s something that we’re not seeing.
Huzzah!
Jack
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That is exactly why the whole thing has me stuck in that Uncanny Valley feeling. For one thing, there is no replacement candidate who is making a splash now, or did in the primaries, and even Harris is a worrisome choice to some in the party. None of the mentioned possibilities appear to be even trying to be chosen. Can so many supposedly smart, powerful people really go full blown Chicken Little so fast?
The Democrats big mistake shared with a lot of voters in 2016 was believing that Trump couldn’t possibly win. Have so many now gone the other way and decided that he can’t lose?
I’m hearing just now on NPR’s Morning Edition another report on the claims that the polls say Biden is losing when the difference is within the margin of error, but also in the range of recent electoral margins of victory.
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Howdy Bob!
We are in the middle of the stampede now. It’s the bandwagon effect. The Republican National Convention can’t come soon enough. Something has to happen that will take attention from this story since the press seems powerless to actually make choices that aren’t driven by the need for clickbait.
Huzzah!
Jack
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Maybe Trump will pick someone for VP who is a truly rich source of juicy bits.
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Given that they are MAGA Republicans, by definition they have juicy bits.
Jack
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Yes, it is unlikely the one chosen will be boring.
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Boring, but interesting in ways unintended and unexpected by Trump.
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That can be, expected, as, the, CONSERVATIVE, Republican Party kidnapped the, Supreme Court, naturally, it would, rule in favor of, Trump, who’s, completely, corrupt, and, Biden’s, POOR performance in the, debates, with, nobody who can, and, want to, try to take presidential nomination away from, Biden from the, Democrat ticket, the BIGGEST LOSERS of this, electolion would still be, “we, the, people”…it’s a LOSE-LOSE, scenario, come November, 2024!
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Howdy Taurus!
Given the reaction by the higher ranking Democratic Party members to Biden’s poor debate performance, this term’s Supreme Court decisions, and the media’s insistence on horseracing and bothsidesing the contest, all I can say is, we’re so fucked. We’ve completely lost sight of what we’re trying to do here in America as a collective.
However, that said, all is not lost, yet. We will more than likely regress to the mean and re-elect Biden and give him a Congress that he can work with even if we won’t have a Democratic majority in the Senate.
Huzzah!
Jack
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don’t forget the Snyder decision where they basically said that bribery of public officials is legal as long as the payment is made after the official does what he’s being bribed to do. Then it is a “gratuity”, not a bribe. https://www.vox.com/scotus/357170/supreme-court-snyder-united-states-corrupti
this court seems determined to utterly dismantle the entire body of law that is intended to rein in political corruption.
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Howdy Grouchy!
I have to confess to not being the Supremes-watcher that many others have been, so I’m a little late to this dinner party. Unfortunately, the desserts being served are all sugarless vegan poor imitations of desserts with all the sugar, all the butter, all the cream. Nonetheless, I’m glad I’m here.
From what I can tell, Roberts entire career has had two overriding themes: empowering the rich and powerful so that they can become more rich and more powerful, and curtailing the advances of Black folk to join us under the umbrella of being created equally, which is to say that the state of the union in 1880 was perfect enough, thank you, we can stop there.
I can remember when Roberts was nominated and confirmed. It was met by a collective “meh” in the media and the politico class with little concern shown for his role in Bush v. Gore or his efforts to disenfranchise Black folks earlier in his career. In the twenty years since then, it has been a straight unwavering unbroken line to ensuring that the 100 billionaires among us have the best chance possible to become 500 billionaires before the climate can no longer support 7 billion people living on the planet and that Black people don’t get to uppity. I guess Barack Obama’s election and term in office was a pretty bitter pill to swallow like it was for all of his other white nationalist fascist brethren.
We’re so fucked.
Huzzah!
Jack
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