Let’s get right to it: The shocking decision by the Supreme Court has us non-Trumpers in a place of deep anxiety and overt fear. We know that our lives and our kids’ futures will be forever changed by a court that has become so outrageously biased and openly political that it is not hyperbolic to charge them with the end of our democracy as we’ve known it.
Thankfully Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) announced on July 1 that she would file articles of impeachment because “the Supreme Court’s decision [on presidential immunity] “represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture.”
In fact, some justices should have been impeached for lying when they said in their congressional hearings that “no man is above the law,” or when they lied about Roe v. Wade being “settled precedent.” Alito’s flag tricks and Thomas’s high-flying vacations are also grounds for impeachment. So Bravo to AOC, and the three women Justices, for having the courage to immediately stand up to a compromised and contaminated Supreme Court.
Given the Court’s horrific ruling, President Biden is now free to appoint several new Supreme Court justices to the bench, with Congressional approval, to clean up the highest court in the land and restore justice to Americans. Indeed, it’s time to expand the Court and set term limits if ever there was one. It’s at least a start for reclaiming our national sanity.
As for President Biden’s bad debate night, this seems like a good time to remind people that we aren’t just voting for a candidate, we are voting for democracy, freedom, and a safe, fair and humane future. It’s too early to know whether Mr. Biden will be the Democratic nominee as I write this commentary. Compelling pro and con opinions fill the airwaves as polls fluctuate.
But the fact is, with all due respect, it’s not about whether the president is up to the challenges of another term. He doesn’t have to complete one, because no one is indispensable. That’s why we have a qualified person and an experienced team to take over should that be necessary.
It’s vital that this election restores good governance, upholds the Constitution, cleans up Congress and the courts and saves our country from a dictatorial regime that would end life as we know it. We urgently need to avoid a terrifying agenda of oppression and lawlessness, and we need to stop the rule of oligarchs. We need to stop Donald Trump from being king. We need to take his agenda seriously and understand how it will affect every single one of us. To put it bluntly we need to understand Trump et.al. are a catastrophe waiting to happen. Remember: The minute the Supreme Court ruled on his immunity, he called for a military tribunal to put Liz Cheney in jail. What’s next on his list?
Anyone who has read just some of the blueprint for a Trump win – Project 2025 – should be terrified by its promises. For starters it’s based on a platform grounded in Christian Nationalism. A February interview with a former Christian Nationalist, now a professor of religion, on NPR’s Fresh Air program, led with a reference to the New Apostolic Reformation, a group that “has become influential in American government and parts of the judicial system.” Their flag hangs outside the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson's office (and upside down at Justice Alito’s homes).
“Christian Nationalism is the idea that Christian people should be privileged in the United States in some way,” interviewee Bradley Onishi said. “Many, many members of Congress from the GOP support those principles. … The goal is to institute people at every level of government…”
If that doesn’t shake you, try this: An organization calling itself “ministers of high representatives of Governments,” which claims as regional co-sponsors the governments of Saudi Arabia, Arab Republic of Egypt, Hungary, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Uganda, and Republic of Guatamala, leads the so-called “Geneva Consensus Declaration on Promoting Women’s Health and Strengthening the Family.” Some of the goals of Project 2025 derive from their document which reaffirms stringent anti-abortion rules, and “the family [as] the natural and fundamental group unit of society,” as well as many other chilling Victorian ideals.
The Declaration was introduced by Donald Trump’s administration in 2020 and signed by 32 countries. Reputed by the Biden administration, it continues to fuel antiabortion strategies. One of its key players is Valerie Huber, who presides over the cleverly named Institute for Women’s Health, which sponsored “International Safe Abortion Day” when the Declaration was signed. Huber is a crusader who has made a career out of fighting abortion and sex education. In her speech at the Declaration event, she accused the UN and WHO of “using their soft power to pressure nations into making ideological concessions” and “[advancing] their pro-abortion agenda under the guise of helping women.” She is one of the contributors to.Project 2025.
There are 33 others like her who crafted the 900-page blueprint for a Trump dictatorship. It must be defeated. That’s why we all must vote in November, up and down the ballot, as if our lives depend on it. They do.
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Elayne Clift writes from Brattleboro, Vt. www.elayne-clift.com