Archive for the Elections Category

The Elections Clause And The Independent State Legislature Theory Confront Sound Logic And Settled Practice (December 12, 2022)

Posted in Constitution, Elections, First Amendment, Sports, Supreme Court on December 12, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “I had the good fortune to listen to the debate from the perspective of someone who has not been inside an American law school.  As I recall from inside an American high school, Federalist Paper Number 78 courtesy of Alexander Hamilton discusses the role, albeit limited, of the judiciary.   Fourteen years after the drafting of the Constitution in 1789, the Supreme Court in 1803 in Marbury v. Madison advanced a doctrine of robust judicial review.  The federal courts have the solemn task of determining whether acts are constitutional and what must be done if acts are contrary to the Constitution.  Even a hard-core Originalist who looks only at the text of the Constitution, the Federalist Papers and possibly other then contemporary publications does not dispute that robust judicial review is part of the settled analytical framework of the Constitution.  The Elections Clause language vests the decision in the state legislatures.  The Petitioners argue that the analysis stops there.  However, the Elections Clause language does not preclude judicial review by any court.  In addition, the analytical framework of the United States Constitution includes robust judicial review as a matter of settled practice in the Republic.  Nothing in the Elections Clause precludes a state supreme court from following the same analytical framework allowing for robust judicial review of the state’s legislative action.  The Petitioners sought . . . judicial review by the United States Supreme Court of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s . . . judicial review of actions taken by the North Carolina legislature.  Petitioners did not challenge the actual decision of the North Carolina Supreme Court, only the decision to decide.  Dismiss the petition as contrary to the text, logic, structure and history of the Clause and the Constitution, I say.”

K          “I had the good fortune to attend the show in person and from the perspective of someone who kept everything in perspective while in an American law school.  That is also my take.  The specific provision is neither incomplete nor unartfully drafted.  It says what it says on the topic but need not and does not need to say anything more.  John Marshall’s statue dominates the inside of the Court.  Any true conservative would affirm his great contribution to the development of the American court system.  The acts by state legislatures pursuant to the Clause are subject to state judicial review.”      

. . .

K          “Nice to be agreeing on something again.”

J          “I am pleased you see it my way.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary involving the goal of the Beautiful Game discussed at Expanding The Goal In Soccer (July 18, 2022).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Beau jeu

The Twitter Files Are The Pentagon Papers Of Today

Moore v. Harper:  Say what?

Free Assange

L’Election (November 14, 2022)

Posted in Elections, Voting, War and Wall Street Party on November 14, 2022 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Abortion concerns counterbalanced inflation fears?”

J          “Climate change counterpoised creeping crime concerns?”

. . .

K          “Very little mention of World War III and its profound long term consequences.”

J          “I saw some blue and yellow.”

. . .

K          “The red tsunami was more of a red rivulet.  The ‘D’ Division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ may have held the House of Lords and the ‘R’ Division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ may have taken the House of Commons.  At least, Biden will be able to obtain the confirmation of federal court judges for two years.”

J          “I have not looked closely at any numbers on the amount spent in the race, yet the ‘D’ Division seems to have spent a bucket of money.  How much did the FTX donations impact the outcome for the Democrats?”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Vote for Nobody.  Nobody cares about you.  . . .  But vote.  For Somebody.

RIP: 2020: Vestigial Democracy; 2021: Free Speech (March 1, 2021)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, Elections, First Amendment on March 1, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “At the end of the year, they scroll through pictures of folks we lost in the past year.  In 2020, the year of the Virus, we may have lost ‘Vestigial Democracy’ and in 2021, the year of the Vaccine, we have already lost ‘Free Speech’ without recognizing either loss.  We are off to a terrible start.”

J          “I disagree about the lost democracy.  It was clean or clean enough for me in the real world of dirty politics.  Free speech is another thing.  The First Amendment protects against government intrusion, but now the ‘governments’ are private sector Behemoths who are beyond regulation.  However, I am not totally against bans on speech that is akin to yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded theater.”

K          “These private sector bans will come to haunt us.”

. . .

[See “YouTube Censors Senate Testimony From Doctor On Possible Covid Drug” by Jonathan Turley dated February 4, 2021.]

[See the e-commentary at YouTube:  Your University:  America’s Community College (December 8, 2014)” at a time when it seemed a more benign platform.]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Did they make it Amendment One for a reason?

On Riots And Rampages (January 11, 2021)

Posted in Collapse, Elections, On [Traits/Characteristics], Trumpi on January 11, 2021 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Talk about your good old fashioned red, white and blue American White Privilege.  Anyone other than white males would have been mowed down at the gates.  The insurrection should have been stopped at the outset by force.”  

K          “I recall delivering one of what were then two local newspapers that featured a picture above the fold of members of the 82nd Airborne drilling holes on the west buttress of the Capitol to mount 50 cal tripods to dissuade rioters after the King assassination.   A dozen years later, I was able to finagle an excuse to slip out on the west buttress and see a few dozen trios of holes now occupied with epoxy.  Both events are memorable.”

. . .

K          “I have walked those grounds on a few occasions and been to at least two anti-war demonstrations there over fifty years.  The Capitol grounds have transitioned from a college campus with stately oaks into a battlefield with rising bollards and retractable tank barriers.  The Capitol is a fortress on a hill.  The fort is not breached unless those inside allow it to be breached.”

J          “Do not forget Occam’s Razor.  Always look for the simplest explanation.  Everything today operates at the most grossly negligent and obscenely incompetent manner and level as humanely possible.  No one knows what he, she or they are doing.”

. . .

K          “Calling it a ‘coup’ is misinformed and unavailing.  Think of the coup against Sukarno as the paradigm.  These rioters were a disorganized band who did not enlist the military or commandeer communications or trigger mass public support.  ‘Riot’ is accurate and perhaps ‘local insurrection’ but not a ‘coup’ attempt or terrorist activities.  The rioters did not want to overthrow a politician, they wanted the current occupant to stay.”

J          “I take back some of my argument that they should have used force.  The Capitol Police may have done the best they could under the circumstances and should be commended for their calm and restraint.”

. . .

J          “There is no doubt that Trumpi incited the riot.”

K          “No doubt.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary discussing the coming nightmare commencing back in November of 2016 at “The E-pocalypse:  My Fellow Americans, Our Long National Nightmare Is Beginning (November 14, 2016)” that continues today and some perspective on White Privilege At Play:  Born On First Base (July 13, 2020).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Keep it simple

It is not what you know or even who you know.  It is what you know about who you know.

Interregnum: Incredulity And Instability (November 16, 2020)

Posted in Elections, Political Parties, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on November 16, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “After a dubious election, the ‘D’ division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ is taking over from the ‘R’ Division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ again.”

J          “The ‘D’ Division will send in more divisions overseas and create more divisions in the land betwixt the shining seas.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

That shit don’t flush

That dog don’t hunt

Panda < Eagle > Bruin; Panda + Bruin > Eagle  

The Trumpi Referendum (November 9, 2020)

Posted in Elections, Presidency, Trumpi on November 9, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “He did more than anyone else in history to get out the vote on the Great Referendum.”

J          “He really was the only one on the ballot with voters voting for him or voting against him.  When he didn’t get the votes, they gave it to the other guy.  Good ol’ what’s-his-name . . . and the young Black Hillary.”

. . .  

K          “Listening to all the arguments and reviewing all the commentary, I suspect that a few extra ballots were slipped into a few ballot boxes.”

J          “Back in 2004, it was so easy and simple when Karl rerouted the Ohio votes to another computer and rejiggered and reduced the vote for Kerry and . . . insured the reelection of George Bush.  By 2012, the folks at Anonymous were on to Karl and did a workaround that outwitted Karl’s workaround resulting in the votes in Ohio actually being voted that . . . insured the reelection of Barack O’Bama.”

K          “Clinton was earmarked to get the nod in the 2016 election, yet the signals got confused.  Many were not amused.  That oversight was not going to be tolerated this time.”

J          “A friend contends that we should not disparage someone who steals something fair and square.”  

. . .

J          “Ten years ago, I advocated for making Election Day a national holiday.  Working people are working on Tuesday.  Now the country needs a national election process for national elections with write in ballots and far more security.”

. . .

K          “The economic, social, national and international problems are beyond intractable and off their radar.”

J          “Will all the problems that will only get worse result in President Harris being a one-term President?”

. . .

See the first e-commentary (“e-ssay” at the time) at “Boycott Red America (January 3, 2005)”.

Bumper sticker of the week:

Wine  The Glue Holding This 2020 Shitshow Together

Le Election: One First Street (November 2, 2020)

Posted in Elections, Supreme Court, Voting on November 2, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “One First Street is my number one concern.”

J          “On the third of November, One First Street is foremost on my mind.  The coup d’état at the Supreme Court was completed a fortnight ago, but we need to keep fighting.  What else do we do.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at “Suffer Clinton.  The Devil.  We know. (November 7, 2016)” and “Better the crook we know than the crazy man we don’t?  Applying The Conservative Tie Breaker. (June 20, 2016)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“I am endorsing Hillary, and all her lies and all her empty promises.  It’s the second-worst thing that can happen to this country, but she’s way behind in second place.  She’s wrong about absolutely everything, but she’s wrong within normal parameters.”  P.J. O’Rourke

“I am endorsing Joe, and all his lies and all his empty promises.  It’s the second-worst thing . . . .”

“And how many more of these stinking double-downer sideshows will we have to go through before we can get . . . a chance to vote for something, instead of always being faced with that old familiar choice between the lesser of two evils?”  Hunter S. Thompson

I’m (Not Really Totally By Any Means Excited To Be) With Him

When your IQ reaches 50, YOU SHOULD SELL.

Google: “Be Evil” (September 28, 2020)

Posted in Amazon, Elections, Facebook, Google, Magazine Reference, Monopoly, Privacy, Society, Technology on September 28, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “’Don’t Be Evil’.   An age of overwhelming edgy sarcastic anxiety and detached cynical irony really is not a healthy and productive age.”

J          “Our society has not aged well.  Bad wine.  White wine that has gone sour and not red wine that improved with age.  And Google and Facebook and Amazon provide the most perverse ironies of our age.”

. . .

[See “The Big Tech Extortion Racket” in “Harpers” dated September 2020 by Barry C. Lynn.

“In 2018, an Irish technologist named Dylan Curran downloaded the information Google had collected about him.  All in all, Curran found, the corporation had gathered 5.5 GB of data on his life, or the equivalent of more than three million Word documents.

In an article for article for “The Guardian”, Curran wrote that within this trove he found

“every Google Ad I’ve ever viewed or clicked on, every app I’ve ever launched or used and when I did it, every website I’ve ever visited and what time I did it.  They also have every image I’ve ever searched for and saved, every location I’ve ever searched for or clicked on, every news article I’ve ever searched for or read, and every single Google search I’ve made since 2009.  And . . . every YouTube video I’ve ever searched for or viewed, since 2008.”

In addition, Curran discovered that Google keeps a detailed record of what events he attends and when he arrives, what photos he takes and when he takes them, what exercises he does and when he does them.  And it has kept every email he has ever sent or received, including those he has deleted.”]

[See the e-commentary at “Goggle” and “Facebook” and “Amazon” and other topics such as “Privacy” and related issues.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Bye Don 2020 (also sported on lawn signs)

Re-Elect The Mother Fracker (also sported on ball caps and t-shirts)

Seeing 2020:  Democratic National Committee v. Republican National Committee.  Oh, And Happy Presidents’ Day! (February 17, 2020)

Posted in Covid / Coronavirus, Democrats, Ebola, Elections, MSM, Republicans, War and Wall Street Party on February 17, 2020 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “In 2016, the Republican National Committee (RNC) ran a fair and open primary that regurgitated the worst possible candidate.  In 2016, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) ran an unfair and rigged primary that regurgitated the worst possible candidate.”

J          “The great war between the ‘D’ Division and the ‘R’ Division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ rages on.  The Bloods and the Crips, I tell you.  It is a vicious street fight raging in the suites.”  

. . .

K          “The old man Sanders is the fav of the young and the foe of the old who want to protect the wealth they yanked from the young.”

J          “And the younger ‘War and Wall Street’ pretenders appeal to the old and promise to protect their wealth against the legitimate claims of the young.”

. . .

K          “In 2016, the DNC decided to ‘lose with Clinton rather than win with Sanders’ because a Trump victory advanced their economic interests.”

J          “And this year the DNC has decided to ‘lose with one of the War and Wall Streeters rather than win with Sanders’ again because a second Trump term does not threaten their economic interests.”

. . .

K          “The greatest threat to democracy is not dark money or the influence of Russia or Israel, it is the MSM actively supporting a ‘War and Wall Street’ candidate and falsely presenting a claim of impartiality.”

J          “The citizen who seeks to be informed must disregard almost everything foisted by the corporate press.”

. . . 

[See “The Myth Of Incompetence:  DNC Scandals Are A Feature, Not A Bug” dated February 6, 2020 and other articles in “caitlinjohnstone.com” by Caitlin Johnstone, the recipient of the 2019 Pushitzer Prize In Commentary.]

[See the e-commentary at “DNC:  ‘We’re Losers.  Vote for Us.’ (February 27, 2017)”, “Impeachment Imbroglio.  Oh, And Happy Saint Nicholas Day! (December 2, 2019)” and “The First Look At The ‘Second Political Party’ (January 3, 2011)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

When you are a loser, well, you are a loser

Covid-19 f.d.b.a. Coronavirus:  Coming to a town near you

Impeachment Imbroglio.  Oh, And Happy Saint Nicholas Day! (December 2, 2019)

Posted in Democrats, Elections, Impeachment, Republicans, Wall Street, War, War and Wall Street Party on December 2, 2019 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Then don’t say anything at all, she would say.  Nicely.”

J          “Mom’s Injunction is one of her enduring legacies.  Before saying anything about him, I sat down with a pen and paper and forced myself to posit some positive attributes about him.  There just is not much nice you can say about him.”

. . .

K          “O’Bama committed one hundred impeachable offenses, but the big players let them slid.  Even Mitch McConnell, the vile and virulent pest and parasite of the Senate, was more of a gnat than a tape worm to O’Bama.”

J          “Our good friend President Cheney and his Vice President Bush committed one thousand impeachable offenses, but the big players let them slid too.  Lettings things slid is the settled practice for those on the inside.”

. . .

K          “I first suspected the existence of what others call the Deep State when I read an MSM article discussing the Pentagon’s actions contrary to President Jimmy Carter’s direct orders and directions.  Youth confronting truth.”

J          “They really do what they want to do.  That is the settled practice for those on the inside.”

. . .

K          “Foreign Service Officers are selected after a rigorous review to guarantee that they will espouse the company message without question or hesitation.  Their testimony is not surprising and not worth much.”

J          “Neo-conservatives in foreign policy and neo-liberals in domestic policy manufactured by what passes for Academia with the homogeneity of McDonald’s hamburgers.  The State Department earned the metonym ‘Foggy Bottom’ from the nearby Metro stop and the miasma that emanates from the swamp it calls home.  Apt and delightfully ironic.”

. . .

K          “Another mole hill being morphed into a mountain to make money for the MSM.  No one even alludes to the real crimes.  Everyone disregards the actual election interference.”

J          “And the MSM are getting rich beyond their wildest fantasy channeling the Congressional zoo the way they ring mastered the election circus.  A side show was turned into the big show.”

. . .

K          “Roving bands of warring Mafia-like criminal families including the Clintoni Gang, the Trumpi Gang, the Bideni Gang and other gangs range the country.  The Clintoni Gang contrived their billion dollar criminal enterprise doing business as the Clintoni Global Initiative and skimmed tens of millions of dollars for themselves.  The criminal enterprise doing business as the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is now supporting the Bideni Gang.  I am all in favor of investigating the crimes of the three crime family syndicates.”

J          “Trumpi has never played well with others.  The others are ganging up on him because he is not on the inside.  The Clintoni Gang and the Bideni Gang are conspiring with the Deep State and the MSM to take out and take down the Trumpi Gang.  Bloods versus Crips.”

. . .

K          “The Republican National Committee (RNC) ran a fair and open primary that regurgitated the worst possible candidate.  The Democratic National Committee (DNC) ran an unfair and rigged primary that regurgitated the worst possible candidate.”

J          “The great war between the ‘D’ Division and the ‘R’ Division of the ‘War and Wall Street Party’ rages on.  The Bloods and the Crips, I tell you.  It is a street fight raging in the suites.”  

. . .

K          “From the testimony to date, the Saurian Monster merely jay walked.  Jay walking is not an impeachable offense.  Unless the Democrats focus their undigested and misplaced anger, he will ultimately walk away with the election.”

J          “He did more than jay walk.  Let’s describe it as speeding at an excessive rate in a grammar school zone.  Yet his many other high crimes and deplorable demeanor are rarely and barely mentioned.”

. . .

K          “The biggest challenge for the individual American citizen is to search for not outlandishly and outrageously expensive health care.  The biggest issue facing the nation is the failing financial system on life support via the quasi-legal activity of the Federal Reserve bailing out the banks without any Congressional approval or oversight.  Congress should be holding hearings on that issue.  The biggest threat facing the planet is the threat we pose to the planet.”

J          “Round Four of Quantitative Easing is now in full swing at three trillion dollars and spiraling.  Many kids would not mind the Fed tossing a trillion dollars their way to ease the quantity of their student loans.”

. . .

K          “If he is to be impeached, Trumpi should be impeached by the populace on November 3.  And he should indeed be impeached by the populace on November 3.”

J          “After deciding in 2016 to lose with Clinton rather than to win with Bernie, the Democrats are secretly and realistically anxious that they cannot make a compelling case to the American people next November.”

K          “The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is committed to losing with Biden or a Biden substitute rather than winning with Bernie or a Bernie substitute.”

J          “The Democrats truly are losers.  The impeachment charade may be their last hurrah.”

. . .

[See “Why do some British people dislike Donald Trump?” in “Quora” by Nate White dated February 14, 2019, “Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal” in “The New York Times” by Jo Becker and Mike McIntire dated April 23, 2015 and all the trenchant articles by Pam Martens and Russ Martens in “Wall Street On Parade” presented as a public service to all of us.]

[See the e-commentary at “DNC:  ‘We’re Losers.  Vote for Us.’ (February 27, 2017)”, “Giuliani – Draft Dodger And Chickenhawk (March 2, 2015)”, and the e-commentary over five years ago questioning the involvement of the sons and scions of politicians in dubious business deals overseas at “World’s Reserve Currency War I = Cold War 2.0 = WW III (?) (September 8, 2014)”.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed.”  Nate White

2020  Any Functioning Adult