Entries by tag: constitution
I'm writing elsewhere but I care passionately about this topic. Here is what I had to say this morning: https://liveonearth.dreamwidth.org/1413541.html
I've been interested in human xenophobia (which I think is instinctive) and race and class warfare since I become politically aware some time in my 20's. The more I study the less I know, other than that people naturally cling to those who are like them and mistrust those who are different. Other than that humans are more emotional than rational.
Human xenophobia is functional in an evolutionary sense: members of a tribe are far more likely to have survived in the past, hence we are biologically wired to be tribal in this way. Without even knowing we do it, we will dehumanize those who we do not like or trust, those who look and sound too different. Once we have placed someone in a "not like me" category, it becomes OK to treat them badly, even kill them. This instinct is difficult to manage in modern society. Our founding documents speak of "domestic tranquility" but we have precious little of that in these interesting times.
The Wolverine Watchmen is a newer group that became active in response to efforts to flatten the pandemic curve in Michigan, and in response to the president's exhortations to "liberate Michigan" from the Covid-19 sparked lockdown. Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's Governor in speech and writing, making the target quite clear.
The Wolverine Watchmen of Michigan intended to kidnap the Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and to put her "on trial" for treason. How they think that their version of a trial will be more just than that agreed upon by broader society speaks to their ignorance and isolation. They want to form "a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient". I can understand that, though their methods leave a great deal to be desired.
The WW website has been deleted. Their social media activity revealed particular concern about taxes, gun control and the "Deep State". Michigan is also home to the Boogaloo Bois who, like other Boogaloo groups are focussed on fomenting civil war.
Thirteen people were arrested by the feds for two separate plots on the Governor. The arrests include 7 members of the WW. They wanted to use bombs to blow up police vehicles and storm the Capitol with 200 men. The militia leader and others were charged with "threat of terrorism, gang membership, providing material support for terrorist ats, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony". I presume that the feds waited until they had ample evidence to bust the militia because the last federal case again a militia in Michigan ended poorly for the feds in 2012 when all seven defendants were cleared.
One young member of the arrested WW group talked about sending a bomb to the governor, saying "I just wanna make the world glow, dude," "we're just gonna conquer" everything and it will all "have to be annihilated". Comments like this do not suggest that this young man in particular has any ability to think critically or to comprehend what the law or the rest of society might have to say about his ideas.
An expert named Amy Cooter (Vanderbilt U) estimates that there are 24-36 similar militia groups in Michigan with the potential for violence. Michigan's militias are the envy of armed groups nationwide. Most of them are law abiding and predominantly interested in protecting what they believe are constitutional rights. They may not start out racist but they could easily end up that way in an environment of racial tension and with the influence of social media, which has increased collaboration between white supremacy and conspiracy groups. Talk of inciting a civil war is becoming more common especially by the militarized portion of Trump's base.
Meanwhile the president has been stoking fear about the next election. I suspect that when he loses he'll do his best to invalidate the election. He'll use these thugs to tie up law enforcement efforts, and sue to stop a vote count in some battleground state. From there he expects that a conservative-stacked supreme court will make him POTUS for a second term, from which platform he'll be trying to keep the office for life.
This story is just the beginning of the intended violence, and it is not the anti-fa that is plotting it.
Interesting times, indeed.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-we-know-about-wolverine-watchmen-accused-of-terror-kidnap-plot-against-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer
Betsy Ross Flag (flying at ringleader's house) significance: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/betsy-ross-flag-nike-colin-kaepernick-patriot-movement-ku-klux-klan-854612/
https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/10/10085589/wolverine-watchmen-michigan-militia-history-boogaloo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement
Human xenophobia is functional in an evolutionary sense: members of a tribe are far more likely to have survived in the past, hence we are biologically wired to be tribal in this way. Without even knowing we do it, we will dehumanize those who we do not like or trust, those who look and sound too different. Once we have placed someone in a "not like me" category, it becomes OK to treat them badly, even kill them. This instinct is difficult to manage in modern society. Our founding documents speak of "domestic tranquility" but we have precious little of that in these interesting times.
The Wolverine Watchmen is a newer group that became active in response to efforts to flatten the pandemic curve in Michigan, and in response to the president's exhortations to "liberate Michigan" from the Covid-19 sparked lockdown. Trump has repeatedly attacked Michigan's Governor in speech and writing, making the target quite clear.
The Wolverine Watchmen of Michigan intended to kidnap the Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and to put her "on trial" for treason. How they think that their version of a trial will be more just than that agreed upon by broader society speaks to their ignorance and isolation. They want to form "a society that followed the U.S. Bill of Rights and where they could be self-sufficient". I can understand that, though their methods leave a great deal to be desired.
The WW website has been deleted. Their social media activity revealed particular concern about taxes, gun control and the "Deep State". Michigan is also home to the Boogaloo Bois who, like other Boogaloo groups are focussed on fomenting civil war.
Thirteen people were arrested by the feds for two separate plots on the Governor. The arrests include 7 members of the WW. They wanted to use bombs to blow up police vehicles and storm the Capitol with 200 men. The militia leader and others were charged with "threat of terrorism, gang membership, providing material support for terrorist ats, and possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony". I presume that the feds waited until they had ample evidence to bust the militia because the last federal case again a militia in Michigan ended poorly for the feds in 2012 when all seven defendants were cleared.
One young member of the arrested WW group talked about sending a bomb to the governor, saying "I just wanna make the world glow, dude," "we're just gonna conquer" everything and it will all "have to be annihilated". Comments like this do not suggest that this young man in particular has any ability to think critically or to comprehend what the law or the rest of society might have to say about his ideas.
An expert named Amy Cooter (Vanderbilt U) estimates that there are 24-36 similar militia groups in Michigan with the potential for violence. Michigan's militias are the envy of armed groups nationwide. Most of them are law abiding and predominantly interested in protecting what they believe are constitutional rights. They may not start out racist but they could easily end up that way in an environment of racial tension and with the influence of social media, which has increased collaboration between white supremacy and conspiracy groups. Talk of inciting a civil war is becoming more common especially by the militarized portion of Trump's base.
Meanwhile the president has been stoking fear about the next election. I suspect that when he loses he'll do his best to invalidate the election. He'll use these thugs to tie up law enforcement efforts, and sue to stop a vote count in some battleground state. From there he expects that a conservative-stacked supreme court will make him POTUS for a second term, from which platform he'll be trying to keep the office for life.
This story is just the beginning of the intended violence, and it is not the anti-fa that is plotting it.
Interesting times, indeed.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-we-know-about-wolverine-watchmen-accused-of-terror-kidnap-plot-against-michigan-gov-gretchen-whitmer
Betsy Ross Flag (flying at ringleader's house) significance: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/betsy-ross-flag-nike-colin-kaepernick-patriot-movement-ku-klux-klan-854612/
https://www.refinery29.com/en-ca/2020/10/10085589/wolverine-watchmen-michigan-militia-history-boogaloo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boogaloo_movement
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
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/27/ireland-votes-to-oust-blasphemy-ban-from-constitution
This is the after-elementary-school program being offered by an organization called The Satanic Temple. It was news to me, but the Satanists I met tonight at the FFRF meeting consider themselves to be atheists. They do not believe in a metaphysical God or Satan. Satan instead is a symbol of individual liberty, of the ability we each have to say "I'm out" when someone offers us a load of dogma. Lucifer, of course, is the fallen angel in Christian mythology who refused to tow the line. "...Our metaphor of Satan is a literary construct inspired by authors such as Anatole France and Milton--a rebel angel defiant of autocratic structure and concerned with the material world. Satanism as a rejection of superstitious supernaturalism."
This take on Satan is all fine and good if you're inside that particular literary bubble. If you, like me, grew up surrounded by Christian mythology, Satan is THE bad guy. So I was a bit taken aback that they want to call their program this, and their club, and so on. Why choose such a hot button for Christians? Why not call it after school Humanism, or Atheism, or Evolution??? Well they do have a reason. The concept is that Satanists can assert their rights as a religious organization and influence public affairs, reminding the dominant religious groups that in America such privileges are for all religions, not just the chosen ones.
I also learned that the legal definition of a religious organization is one that takes a stand about god. Hence an atheist organization is a religious organization in the good old US of A.
The Oregon chapter of The Satanic Temple is brand new. They've offered After School Satan Clubs at two elementary schools where Good News Clubs are already offered. They plan to teach evolution, and how the world was formed. The only problem is that when the local chaper offered an open house at a local school, the superintendent of the school (Karen Gray) let all the students and teachers go home an hour early, effectively eliminating the curious audience while also ticking off the parents who had to get out of work an hour early to pick up their babies. Only two students signed up. I wonder how many would have signed up if it was the After School Spaghettimonster Club?
The 2001 Supreme Court Decision called Good News Club vs Milford Central School resulted in a decision that the Milford school's restriction of the Good News Club violated the Club's free speech rights, and that no Establishment Clause concern justified that violation. If you don't remember the Establishment Clause, it's the part of the First (free speech) Amendment that prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress. So after school programs are allowed access to school premises regardless of content. Free speech is allowed by religious groups as well as boy scouts, debate and chess club...and Corporations, but that's a separate ball of wax.
The Good News Club is a private Christian organization for children. Their goal is to Christianize the next generation. They teach elementary school kids that they are sinners and that they are going to hell if they don't repent and do right by this one particular version of God. The Child Evangelism Fellowship creates the curriculum and trains instructors. They have over 40,000 volunteers in the US and in 2011 there were 3560 clubs in public schools in the US and over 42,000 clubs worldwide. THIS is how they get off calling it a Christian Nation. And they are effectively brainwashing children before they've developed the powers of discimination to know they've been hoodwinked. A 5th grader is unlikely to really comprehend that the teachings after school are of a different nature from the teachings in school.
Because of the 2001 SCOTUS decision, Satanists have the same rights of access to public schools as Christians, so After School Satan is one answer to the Christianization. The name is intended to provoke Christians, and it does. There have been ample protests. The goal is simple: to get the Christians to remove their programs from public schools, so that then the Satanists will go back into private and stop enticing their children with cool programs and rebelliousness.
One of the coolest things I heard from tonight's programs was the 7 Tenets of The Satanic Temple. They are beautifully enlightened so I will share:
This take on Satan is all fine and good if you're inside that particular literary bubble. If you, like me, grew up surrounded by Christian mythology, Satan is THE bad guy. So I was a bit taken aback that they want to call their program this, and their club, and so on. Why choose such a hot button for Christians? Why not call it after school Humanism, or Atheism, or Evolution??? Well they do have a reason. The concept is that Satanists can assert their rights as a religious organization and influence public affairs, reminding the dominant religious groups that in America such privileges are for all religions, not just the chosen ones.
I also learned that the legal definition of a religious organization is one that takes a stand about god. Hence an atheist organization is a religious organization in the good old US of A.
The Oregon chapter of The Satanic Temple is brand new. They've offered After School Satan Clubs at two elementary schools where Good News Clubs are already offered. They plan to teach evolution, and how the world was formed. The only problem is that when the local chaper offered an open house at a local school, the superintendent of the school (Karen Gray) let all the students and teachers go home an hour early, effectively eliminating the curious audience while also ticking off the parents who had to get out of work an hour early to pick up their babies. Only two students signed up. I wonder how many would have signed up if it was the After School Spaghettimonster Club?
The 2001 Supreme Court Decision called Good News Club vs Milford Central School resulted in a decision that the Milford school's restriction of the Good News Club violated the Club's free speech rights, and that no Establishment Clause concern justified that violation. If you don't remember the Establishment Clause, it's the part of the First (free speech) Amendment that prohibits the establishment of religion by Congress. So after school programs are allowed access to school premises regardless of content. Free speech is allowed by religious groups as well as boy scouts, debate and chess club...and Corporations, but that's a separate ball of wax.
The Good News Club is a private Christian organization for children. Their goal is to Christianize the next generation. They teach elementary school kids that they are sinners and that they are going to hell if they don't repent and do right by this one particular version of God. The Child Evangelism Fellowship creates the curriculum and trains instructors. They have over 40,000 volunteers in the US and in 2011 there were 3560 clubs in public schools in the US and over 42,000 clubs worldwide. THIS is how they get off calling it a Christian Nation. And they are effectively brainwashing children before they've developed the powers of discimination to know they've been hoodwinked. A 5th grader is unlikely to really comprehend that the teachings after school are of a different nature from the teachings in school.
Because of the 2001 SCOTUS decision, Satanists have the same rights of access to public schools as Christians, so After School Satan is one answer to the Christianization. The name is intended to provoke Christians, and it does. There have been ample protests. The goal is simple: to get the Christians to remove their programs from public schools, so that then the Satanists will go back into private and stop enticing their children with cool programs and rebelliousness.
One of the coolest things I heard from tonight's programs was the 7 Tenets of The Satanic Temple. They are beautifully enlightened so I will share:
I. One should strive to act with compassion and empathy towards all creatures in accordance with reason.
II. The struggle for justice is an ongoing and necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions.
III. One’s body is inviolable, subject to one’s own will alone.
IV. The freedoms of others should be respected, including the freedom to offend. To willfully and unjustly encroach upon the freedoms of another is to forgo your own.
V. Beliefs should conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. We should take care never to distort scientific facts to fit our beliefs.
VI. People are fallible. If we make a mistake, we should do our best to rectify it and resolve any harm that may have been caused.
VII. Every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.
Wouldn't it be nice if THESE were American Values?
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.
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.
Just yesterday I finally stopped ignoring the Middle East and looked up a few things. Like who is Shia and who is Sunni. And who has nukes and where. And what exactly an Islamist is. It was....a useful exercise. Anyone else out there taking an interest in this juncture of history? I'm ready to be educated.
It just seems to me, after one *ok a fraction of one* day of looking into it, that the majority Sunnis in most of the Middle East have been supremely frustrated trying to deal with their less conservative, more secular Shia neighbors. And it seems clear to me that America has at least attempted to enact a separation of church and state, even though those words do not appear in the constitution. It was in the First Amendment to the US Constitution that Congress was to "make no law respecting respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". As wikipedia points out, lots of nations have this idea in their code, and there is a great range of shades of gray in its execution. Here in America we do fairly well, but nowhere near a perfect score. For one thing, the constitution has no control over the states and what local laws might be passed. Which may be how we have gigantic crosses along Interstate 5 in Washington State. Not so different from other places, where religion is supposed to guide personal and political life. Here we seem only able to elect Christian presidents. We like to think that we are above it, but we are surely not.
So I know I am rambling and I will call it quits. If you have an opinion about what is the crux of what is going on--in Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or any other involved party, feel free to comment and tell me! I'm building a mind map.
**Created Syria tag.
It just seems to me, after one *ok a fraction of one* day of looking into it, that the majority Sunnis in most of the Middle East have been supremely frustrated trying to deal with their less conservative, more secular Shia neighbors. And it seems clear to me that America has at least attempted to enact a separation of church and state, even though those words do not appear in the constitution. It was in the First Amendment to the US Constitution that Congress was to "make no law respecting respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof". As wikipedia points out, lots of nations have this idea in their code, and there is a great range of shades of gray in its execution. Here in America we do fairly well, but nowhere near a perfect score. For one thing, the constitution has no control over the states and what local laws might be passed. Which may be how we have gigantic crosses along Interstate 5 in Washington State. Not so different from other places, where religion is supposed to guide personal and political life. Here we seem only able to elect Christian presidents. We like to think that we are above it, but we are surely not.
So I know I am rambling and I will call it quits. If you have an opinion about what is the crux of what is going on--in Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Russia or any other involved party, feel free to comment and tell me! I'm building a mind map.
**Created Syria tag.
- Current Mood:focussed
There's a reason why no Amendments are passed anymore. They aren't needed. No real Constitutional limitations are recognized.
--Skip (
logiphage)
--Skip (
logiphage)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.
I'm happy to report that in Virginia, today, US District Court Judge Henry Hudson offered a 42 page opinion saying that individuals cannot legally be compelled by the feds to buy insurance or pay a fine. We already knew that this wasn't constitutional, but it's good to see the legal system kick into action. Obama, of course, was a constitutional law professor before he got into politics. He knew, as well as I knew, that this part of his law would not stand the test. What's interesting to me is the idea that he might have allowed this obviously unconstitutional bit to stay in the law to placate the insuro-medical business while he got the rest of the bill passed, which is much more practical and useful than the mandated insurance part. In other words, I think that he tricked the insurance companies, and that he's tricking congress too. He's smart, and he has the long view, and he knows that he will not get his way by putting his wish list on the table. So I continue to be impressed with Obama even though his critics act as if this is some kind of great embarrassment for him. He knew this would happen. He planned on it. The best thing about greed is that it gives people and businesses tunnel vision. Businesses don't care if a law is constitutional if it benefits their bottom line.
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