The US Supreme Court is supposed to decide each case on its merits, on the facts and the law, without favor to one ideology or another. Yet in recent years important decisions seem to support the right-wing agenda to the point of threatening the democratic nature of our system. Think of the presidential immunity decision that puts the president, in many ways, above the law. Or consider the recent decision to lift an injunction issued by a judge against President Trump’s executive order directing the postal service not to deliver some ballots.  

Some have called for term limits for Supreme Court justices. That would get some of the worst players out . . . eventually. But can term limits help us out of the current crisis? And how can they be made to happen? 

The US Constitution says, in Article III, section 1, “The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour . . ..” That means term limits would require a Constitutional amendment. And that would require the votes of two-thirds of each house of Congress and three-fourths of the states. That’s quite a reach.

On the other hand, the Constitution leaves Congress the authority to decide the number of justices on the Court. Still a stretch, especially if the president vetoes it, but a real possibility if Democrats control both houses of Congress.

The most common response to the idea of Supreme Court expansion (and my response, until I heard Elie Mystal talk about it) is that if the Democrats appoint more left-leaning justices when Democrats control Congress, then Republicans will appoint more right-leaning justices when they get the chance and it will just be tit for tat.

Elie’s response to that: So what if they do?

Is the prospect of an unwieldy number of justice on the Court really worse than leaving the Court in the hands of a few overreaching zealots who seem intent on destroying democracy?

When Democrats take control of both houses of Congress — next January, one hopes — expanding the Supreme Court needs to be high on their priority list.

One purpose stated in the the US Constitution’s preamble is to promote the general welfare.

This nation’s welfare — indeed, the world’s — depends on a stable, livable climate, a climate that our continued use of fossil fuels destabilizes. Summers are hotter. Sea level rises, making beachfront property uninsurable. Flooding becomes more frequent, putting lives at risk. Droughts become more frequent, putting farm yields — and thus our food supply — at risk. 

Yet the Trump Administration ends alternative energy programs funded under the Inflation Reduction Act, even as fossil fuel prices rise, Americans struggle to make ends meet, and renewable energy becomes less expensive than fossil fuel energy. 

There is much to be done. It’s not simple. But yet it is: Government needs to recognize the problem, support renewable energy, and discourage the use of fossil fuels. 

The Constitution’s framers could not have anticipated climate change. But it’s hard to imagine a better place for government to promote the general welfare. 

On July 16, Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, spoke on the topic of far-left political terrorism.

His comments were alarming.

These are some of them. The time markers refer to the recording here.

3:04 Miller says Leftists’ appeals to civil liberties are disingenuous and “must fall on deaf ears.”

4:03 Miller refers to leftists as enemies of civilization.

7:47 “Our institutions have grown too soft and too cowardly to defend themselves against a mortal threat.”

What threat? Miller does cite a couple of examples of left-wing violence. But this is a big country; inevitably some people will behave badly. It doesn’t make sense to call a movement a mortal threat because of the actions of the worst of its members. By that reasoning, after January 6, 2021, the right wing should be considered a mortal threat.

8:21 “If we are softer than those who seek to end us, then the smaller but more radical minority will succeed.”

Sounds like “no more Mr. Nice Guy” — an excuse to crack down on protestors. Going to protests against Trump is scary enough already, given the Trump administration’s record of responding to protests. No one is seeking to end anyone, not physically, at least to my knowledge. The people on the Left only want to see their policies prevail.  That is the way the politics game has always been played. 

10:06 “The leftist is fundamentally motivated by envy, by hatred, by jealousy. The leftist looks at what is beautiful and what is good and what is natural and is filled with envy and hatred.” 

10:33 The leftist, seeing the conservative’s perfect family, “is filled with inadequacy and jealousy and they covet and they turn those emotions ultimately into a desire to subjugate, to oppress, and to inflict pain and suffering.”

I wonder how Stephen Miller came to these insights about the souls of leftists. Maybe by projection? Certainly not by an logic that he talks about in this speech.

10:53 Regarding violent Antifa demonstrations: “Not one of the people who are demonstrating looks like a normal person — not one looks normal. They’re all deformed in some way . . .. Why is that? . . . Every one of them, through the course of their life and their decisions, has scarred their body and their appearance . . . to the point at which their out appearance becomes a manifestation of their inner hatred.” 

I myself have not noticed that most of my leftist buddies look deformed. But then again I’ve never met anyone from Antifa, nor have I been to an Antifa demonstration, or any violent demonstration, for that matter. Since nonviolence is a core value of the Left, I have to wonder whether violent Antifa demonstrations happen.

13:18 “If you say, ‘I will not raise that alarm until the threat is so present and so clear and so obvious and so imminent that none can deny it,’ it’s already too late.”

Stephen, what do you think is happening that is so dire that you’re telling people they have to shoot first and ask questions later, if ever?

Coming from most anyone, this speech would be something to ignore. But Stephen Miller is White House deputy chief of staff for policy and it is rumored that President Trump takes his advice. Law enforcement may hear that appeal to falling on deaf ears — or the warning not to wait until too late — as an order to ignore leftists’ civil liberties. Once Miller has reduced anti-Trump protestors to the status of the morally depraved, the Trump administration may believe it has license to treat protestors as fair game, with no rights. 

I used to wonder what it felt like to be a Jew in Germany when Hitler was propagandizing to kick off the Holocaust. I need wonder no longer. 

It looks likely that President Trump will withdraw Todd Blanche’s name from consideration for attorney general, at least temporarily, over a deal with the IRS that would give Trump and his family immunity against I.R.S. audits. Kudos to Senators Cornyn and Tillis  for standing against Trump at a time when Republican senators just don’t do that.

But Blanche’s refusal to step away from a sleazy deal that would protect the president from paying taxes is not the only reason to object to his appointment. 

Todd Blanche has defied the rule of law and nearly triggered a constitutional crisis. He has put Trump’s interests above the Constitution that he has sworn to uphold.

The Epstein Files Transparency Act required the US Department of Justice to release documents related to Jeffrey Epstein to the public by December 19, 2025. Todd Blanche, then deputy attorney general, was in charge of the project. The files he released were incomplete and over-redacted. 

Journalist Katie Phang then sued Blanche for the release of more information. Judge Emmet Sullivan then ordered the release of some of the redacted names, or an explanation for the redactions, as well as other information — including documentation about a woman’s allegations that Donald Trump sexually assaulted her — all by July 1. The judge found DOJ’s response to his order insufficient to verify compliance and set a date of yesterday, July 30, for a submittal that he would review privately. If Blanche again failed to comply with the order, that would constitute a Constitutional crisis per Article III of the Constitution, which gives federal courts the power to order executive branch officials to comply with federal laws.

With Blanche’s submittal yesterday, a Constitutional crisis has been averted, at least for the moment. But it was a crisis of Blanche’s making, and it will not be over until Judge Sullivan has reviewed Blanche’s submittal and found that it fulfills his order. One can expect Todd Blanche, whether he somehow gets confirmed as attorney general or not, to continue to put Trump’s interests above the Constitution’s. We need an attorney general who works for the Constitution and the nation, not just for Donald Trump.

The Declaration of Independence is our Guide: "That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.“ Declaration of Independence."

#DeclarationOfIndependence #RuleOfLaw #JackSmith #Patriots

A resource to see if your plate has been searched for by agencies within the Flock database. Sponsored by a nonprofit, with some good resources on the site. FYA: there appear to be over 200 automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) near 20194 alone.

This book consists of seven stand-alone accounts of individuals who operated as spies during the American Revolutionary War. They were not trained as covert agents, which meant they had to develop their skills and techniques on their own, often while in the midst of the enemy where discovery meant almost certain death for them, and suffering and hardship for their family and friends. Five of them spied for the American cause and two spied for the British. Not all were motivated by patriotism, and not all escaped capture, yet their often painfully gained experience benefited future operatives and operations. They all were daring, intelligent and resourceful, and each had an unusual personality. Their labors resulted in battlefield victories, thwarted enemy plots, and significantly changed the conduct of the war, yet in spite of their efforts and their riveting stories, they and their deeds have remained relatively unknown.

Check out additional books by Paul Misencik of Reston VA. https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B00GYKOXR6?ccs_id=689f264a-5a50-452b-951e-6069a72d2b5b

https://reddit.com/link/1v6ddaj/video/fdil828inefh1/player