INTERESTING TIMES

You don't know me.  I'm from Tennessee and I was born in the 1960's.  I've been an independent as long as I've been politically aware, because it is clear to me that both of our dominant parties here in the United States of America have become corrupt.  Both are overly influenced by big money, favors and whatnot.  Political figures on both sides have found ways to work the system to stay in power and enrich themselves.  Both parties have become more extreme because our voting systems including closed primaries cause that.  The incentives in our system are all wrong.  It might seem to be time to blow it up, to clear the slate in a dramatic way.

I would argue there's a right and wrong way to clear the slate.  Blowing it up is the wrong way because so much useful stuff gets destroyed in the process.  The right way would be to update our voting systems so that no one population gets to decide for all of us.  Open primaries, non-partisan districting, and ranked choice voting would fix our problems immediately.  The far left wouldn't be stuffing wokeness down our throats.  The far right wouldn't be trying to set up an authoritarian who will rule without regard for the Constitution.  We would have more options, instead of always having to choose between extremes that are both awful.

The beauty of the American system of government and its Constitution is that it was designed to keep any one faction from gaining absolute power.  That saying about power corrupting, and absolute power corrupting absolutely--that's absolutely true.  Our government was designed to keep anyone from having too much power.  The plan is to force us to compromise for the good of the people.  Compromise is hard work. 

Our government is supposed to be OF the people and FOR the people.  Not OF the academics, Christians, rich people, minorities, white people, men or any other single group.  OF THE PEOPLE.  FOR THE PEOPLE.   This is why America is a beacon on a hill for people all around the world.  A place where regular people have a chance.  A place where you won't get killed because you look different or celebrate a different totem.  THIS is the greatness of America.  Our forefathers had a vision and we have carried it forward for over 200 years.

Democracies usually fail before 200 years.  It's rare for a democracy to last as long as this one has.  And it is riddled with imperfections.  It needs work, a big update, a major overhaul.  Those who pretend it's perfect are totally nuts.  We made a lot of changes early, and the civil war forced us to make a bunch more changes.  We're about to have to get busy again.  If this democracy doesn't fail this November because too many people vote for a DICTATOR, we still have a lot of work to do.  The Democrats aren't autocrats like DJT, but they aren't going to give up power easily either.  WE THE PEOPLE must force the changes needed, and those changes will disempower BOTH of our dominant political parties and return the power TO THE PEOPLE.  Ranked choice voting.  Open Primaries.  Non-partisan districts for voting. 

Democracies require work!  They don't work if the people aren't paying attention or doing the work.  A failing democracy is not a reason to give up, it's a reason to get after it!  If we let Trump win it's because we gave up, we were too lazy and too ignorant to make the updates needed to keep rulership in the hands of the people.  Or return it there, really.

If we let our government fall prey to a dictator who ditches the Constitution, we will have lost all that we've fought and died for, for so long.  We'll be right back where we started when those rich Brits and the king were bossing us around.  Don't remember that?  It's because it was 200+ years ago!  History seems real boring until you start repeating it.  The LAST thing we need is to let Trump destroy all the democratic systems in our government in order to glorify himself.  It will take hundreds of years to dig ourselves back out of that pit.  Autocracy is a very bad trap. 

If we let the Dems take this next election, we might live to see the changes that would actually help!  We'll be fighting against them too, but at least they aren't about to ditch the Constitution and ignore federal law to deport a whole bunch of people.

There are LOTS of other changes that we need to work on, but our voting systems must come first.  I pray that NO DICTATOR gains power before we are able to hit the RESET button on our systems and keep working toward a more perfect union.

 Voters overwhelmingly approved an update to the Irish constitution that removes a stiff penalty for blasphemy.  Score one for freedom of speech and one for atheism!

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/27/ireland-votes-to-oust-blasphemy-ban-from-constitution

He spoke at O'Connor's on June 27 for the FFRF.  Overall what I learned from this retired polysci professor is that the framers of the US constitution intended to create a principle-based document that allows enough structure to prevent chaos, and enough freedom to allow evolution of our society and laws over time.  He never said anything like that, it is purely my restatement of what I walked away with.  Brudley is a good speaker and clearly has taught this subject matter in many different ways over the years.  When faced with a mature atheist audience in liberal Portland, he was able to skim over a lot of topis that he belabors for undergraduates.  One thing I liked about his speaking style (and will borrow): he said that questions for the purpose of clarification or elaboration are welcome during the presentation, all others had to wait until the end.  This prevents diversions from the topic and keeps it all moving along.

He started out saying that the independent judiciary is detailed in Article 1, and that it was clearly a priority for the framers of the constitution.  I also learned that Article 2 is the Executive article, and it is under this article that the constitution says that the president nominates supreme court justices and with the senates advice and consent these nominations can be confirmed.  The president is instructed to choose based on fitness and qualifications, and not on nepotism or cronyism.  The president is selected for this job because he is thought to be more insulated from the "passions and prejudices of the people".

Nowhere in the constitution does it say that the senate, or the people, should have any part in nominating judges.  The Federalist Papers have an article by Hamilton that specifically says there shall be "no exertion of choice on the part of the Senate".   Nowhere does it say that no SCOTUS judges may be nominated in the last year.  To his knowledge our current VP Biden was the first to say that a lame duck president should not nominate--which was an easy gotcha for the Republicans.  Brudney said that our system of checks and balances, and the separation of powers, is sometimes unproductive.  You could say that.  Stalemate potential is necessary in a principle-driven constitution that provides us with freedoms, and protects us from rash decisions by any branch of our government.

This org is attempting to unite everyone who'd like to induce our governing officials at all levels to respect and adhere to this founding document. It's a pretty cool idea, because they're avoiding any party affiliation, hoping to simply get more citizens involved in keeping an eye on things.

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (2/3 of the 50) States to require congress to convene a Constitutional Convention. A Convention, once it comes to pass, can change the constitution. This can happen at the federal and the state level.

The question at hand is whether members of congress and the senate should have to obey the laws that are applied to the rest of us. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform that is being considered.. in all of its forms. Somehow, that doesn't seem logical. We do not have an elite that is above the law. I truly don't care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop.

The proposed Amendment to the US Constitution would be the 28th. It would read something like this: "Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and, Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States."

To me, this makes great sense. I personally would like to modifiers of the constitution to reverse the parts that allow corporations to have "personhood". Business should not have all the rights of personhood but none of the responsibilities. And money from a business should not be protected as free speech, though I understand the slipperiness of the question and the difficulty the supreme court found in drawing a reasonable line. Then there is the suggestion of a balanced budget amendment. While we may not be able to have a balanced budget in the short term, we could begin to require that governments spend within their means. There is no shortage of work to do.

He's gone, dead at the age of 92. We will miss him. While it is impossible to agree with every decision, his work revealed a man of great integrity, strength and resolve. May we soon begin to elect more senators and congressmen with spines and morals, in his honor.

The news is saying that he cast more votes than anybody, ever, in the senate, perhaps because he was elected in the 60's and served until today. He carried a copy of the constitution in his pocket and brandished it at people. He was a democrat, but the party did not rule him.

SOURCE
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-byrd-20100628,0,3523904.story

How many times have you wondered exactly what the constitutions says about something?
I wonder more than I know.

Here's the deal: http://www.nccs.net/us_constitution.html
Sale's on now. I just ordered 100 for 30 cents each.

I wouldn't have believed it, but some Republicans seem to be realizing that the party will not get out of the doghouse until it stops being so homophobic. Steve Schmidge, who was an advisor to John McCain during his campaign, said:

It cannot be argued that marriage between people of the same sex is un American or threatens the rights of others. On the contrary, it seems to me that denying two consenting adults of the same sex the right to form a lawful union that is protected and respected by the state denies them two of the most basic natural rights affirmed in the preamble of our Declaration of Independence — liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, I believe, gives the argument of same sex marriage proponents its moral force.

SOURCE
force.http://gayrights.change.org/blog/view/a_sound_conservative_argument_for_same-sex_marriage

( Behind the cut: One particular comment from the discussion that I decided to save. )