Posted on 01/27/2019 2:10:05 AM PST by vannrox
Like many Trump supporters, I was extremely disappointed earlier when Trump seemingly caved to the DNC about the border wall issue. I have also internally questioned his actions concerning the State of the Union address... he can give this address from anywhere, the Senate chamber, the Oval Office, the southern border, heck, he could give it on Twitter if he wanted to. The State of the Union is Constitutionally mandated, although the Constitution is unclear on where it can be given or even when it must be given... the exact wording is "from time to time." January 29th in the House chambers is simply custom.
Also, why has he not already declared a National Emergency? Apparently the draft is ready. I can understand how he would rather use private contractors instead of the military... that's an economic boon. But the bigger issue would seem to be the border crisis; it has been ongoing at least since the 1980s.
One thing I have discovered, the one constant in understanding political maneuvering, is that when things start not making sense, one is looking at the wrong goal. These are politicians... cruel, malicious, self-serving, unapologetic politicians, but they are certainly not dumb. They have managed to become wealthy by doing little to nothing except tell others what to do. I consider that pretty intelligent, albeit in a twisted, evil sort of way.
So what's the real goal here?
I can only think of one thing that makes sense overall, one thing that is more important than the border, even more important than the economy. Bear with me here... this is going to make a few switchbacks to get where I want to go.
What happens at the State of the Union speech? Well, the President stands up and makes this long-winded speech about what he has been saying for months, what he wants Congress to do, and why he wants them to do it. He usually invites several people whose stories emphasize the points he wants to make. There is a lot of pomp and circumstance. All the leaders of the nation are present: the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court Justices...
The Supreme Court Justices. That is the key.
We all know how Ruth Bader Ginsberg has been in failing health as of late. There have been rumors on top of rumors. She has pneumonia; she is just recovering. She has a resurgence of cancer; she is cancer free. She is dying; she expects to return soon. No one really knows, because she seems to be in hiding as of late. The official story is she is recuperating, but this is the first time in her history that she has missed oral arguments.
Trump has already shifted the Supreme Court. He appointed Neil Gorsuch almost immediately to replace the late, great Anthony Scalia. Justice Anthony Kennedy then retired and Trump appointed Brett Kavanaugh. We all saw that debacle, as the DNC tried every dirty trick in the book to disrupt his nomination for fear he would be more of a Constitutionalist than Kennedy. They didn't work; Justice Brett Kavanaugh now sits on the Supreme Court, and future similar exhibitions will not look good for whichever party tries them.
Justice Kennedy was a swing vote. The change in the makeup of the Supreme Court was minor, but still significant due to the precarious balance between Constitutionalist and Activist. Justice Ginsberg, however, is strictly an Activist. Were she to retire or die during Trump's administration, the change to the Supreme Court would be earth-shattering and would last for decades. The DNC relies heavily on the Judicial branch to let them implement policies which are sometimes quite questionable according to the Constitution. They lost the Executive and Legislative branches in 2016, leaving them with nothing except the Deep State (the bureaucracy of the various departments), the MSM, and the Judicial branch. In 2018, they took back the House, but lost position in the Senate... leaving the Legislative branch of government in limbo. But Trump has been steadily making inroads into the Deep State, so really it was a wash.
Now the DNC stands to completely lose the Supreme Court. Their only hope if Ginsberg is really seriously ill? Delay. If they can make it another year, they can try to postpone the nomination for her replacement until after 2020, leaving the hope of either gaining the Presidency or the Senate... if they can wait two more years, they have hope of getting another Activist Justice.
Should the State of the Union occur in the House chamber, all of the Justices will be present, except Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The optics of that could lead to a more fervent push of naming a replacement, which would certainly be a Constitutionalist under Trump. That's why Pelosi pulled her invite after initially extending it: Justice Ginsberg has taken a turn for the worst. Pelosi cited the shutdown as the reason for the cancellation, since she couldn't very well say what the real reason was. She kept saying "no" to every request because she wanted to keep the shutdown in effect and the State of the Union address in limbo. Now, however, Trump has caved to her demands and the State of the Union should be back on.
But it isn't. Pelosi now wants to stall and negotiate for a future date. The idea is to prevent the State of the Union from happening as normal, and thus to prevent any public notice of Justice Ginsberg's absence. Stall... stall at any cost. Stall until Trump decides to give up and give the State of the Union address from somewhere else... anywhere else. Under this new agreement, the government is only back for 20 days, then another shutdown can happen.
But I don't think that will happen. I think Trump knows Justice Ginsberg's condition as well as Pelosi does. If possible, the DNC will stall long after Justice Ginsberg passes, allowing her to take an extended leave of absence just because she represents the second key to their power now (the first was the FBI). Trump sees a chance to present Ginsberg's absence to the public, taking back the Judiciary. So it really has become a chess game, with a very important prize going to the winner.
I look for more surprising moves in the next three weeks. I expect there to be a lot of pushback on the wall from the pundits, in an attempt to back Trump into a corner and make him refuse to sign any bills after that. Another shutdown, another stalemate, another delay, another month closer to delaying a nomination.
Is Justice Ginsberg dead? I don't think so. Should she actually die, it would be nigh impossible to cover it up successfully for long and not have the truth come out in the end. She could, however, be on life support, just keeping the body fresh. I hope she is still alive; I do not wish her ill.
I do wish her a happy retirement. May she recover enough for that at least.
TheRedneck
She’s mot dead, she’s pinin’ for the fjords!
CC
If no one has the guts to call her every day or week to see if she is really still alive, thee Dems would keep her corpse in the fridge at her house until after Trump leaves office if they have to.
As good a reason as many and better than most!
Thank you!
It sounds about right!
All the leaders of the nation are present: the House of Representatives, the Senate, the Cabinet, the Supreme Court Justices...
...
It’s common for one or more Justices to be absent.
Didn’t Pelosi just say no SOTU on Tuesday?
That’s true. The full contingent of the court hasn’t been present at the SOTU for many years because of concerns that a terrorist bombing could take them all out at once.
RBG is simply in a safe place, “in reserve, in case,” on life support somewhere...
“Also, why has he not already declared a National Emergency? Apparently the draft is ready. I can understand how he would rather use private contractors instead of the military.”
I don’t think anything would prevent DoD from hiring private contractors to build a barrier. I would be surprised if they didn’t.
I really don’t think the SOTU has anything to do with it, but Trump has reopened the government, so why can’t he give the speech as was intended on Tuesday?
I guess we’ll see what Pelosi has to say. If she stalls, eg. “Until we have a new budget or until the issue of the border is resolved,” that of course will be BS, and would tend to favor your viewpoint.
RBG aside, the Supreme Court will shape the nation’s future direction of governance: mob rule democracy versus a federal republic. I felt the OP was hinting that the USSC, with a majority of so called conservative justices, will be the salvation of our movement going forward. If history has taught us anything though, that is a dangerous assumption.
Riiiiiight......Everyone who wastes their time watching the SOTU breathlessly counts the number of justices in attendance. More importantly, who is sitting in which seat.
The real concern here is how they're going to be seated. Will it be first come first serve? Seniority? Age? Alphabetical or by height? As for me, I don't care. I just want to know who will be sitting in section 4, aisle 11 and seat 3.......
LMAO: I believe your Meme is right on target!
I’ve done a copy and save.
I bet the plug gets pulled either on January 20, 2021 or on January 20, 2025 (should Trump win reelection)
DC can be a place where childishness goes on permanent display, but never so graphically as at the State of the Union.
It reminds me of a high school basketball game, where the opposing fans in the stands challenge each other with "We've got spirit yes we do; we've got spirit how 'bout YOU?" and the old cheer, "Lean to the left, lean to the right, stand up, sit down, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!"
Like I said, a childish spectacle. I wish it were not so.
from what I understand the reason that trump backed off for 3 weeks on the shut down was that the IRS did not have the personnel to process tax refunds because those who would of processed the returns would not show up to work with out a paycheck even though they had been deemed essential and expected to work during the shutdown. this is just long enough to process the returns
No they won't. Justice Alito hasn't attended a State of the Union address since 2010 and Justice Thomas seldom attends. In fact only four justices attended Trump's 2017 address.
Excellent article that puts my mind into high gear with an idea that I had not considered beforehand!
I agree - optics to the Democrats are everything - and if RBG doesn’t show up for the SOTU her absence would be noted and launch a tidal wave of commentary as to the reason for the no show.
Like Rush Limbaugh has stated on more than a few of his radio programs, “most of the liberal agenda has been enacted by the federal courts.”
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