Posted on 06/27/2018 1:30:33 PM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
After a Supreme Court term that saw one conservative victory after another, the final blow fell on Wednesday afternoon: Justice Anthony Kennedy (who has been the median vote on the Supreme Court since the retirement of Sandra Day O’Connor in 2006) announced his retirement. It is almost impossible to overstate the significance of this.
Anthony Kennedy’s legacy could have been as a conservative respected for providing key votes to uphold a woman’s right to choose and the right-to-same sex marriage. Instead, he shall be remembered as one of the most important allies of Donald Trump’s pro-business white nationalism.
What’s particularly disturbing about this is that Republicans have gotten its firm hold on the Court despite lacking a popular mandate. The Republican Party has lost the popular vote in 6 out of 7 presidential elections, and is relying more and more on the race-baiting of Donald Trump and his allies to bring supporters to the polls because its domestic agenda is highly unpopular. The party is also relying increasingly on vote suppression of non-conservative racial minority groups rather than attracting voters to stay in power, most recently with the assistance of a Supreme Court that is at war with the Voting Rights Act and unwilling to overrule even the most egregious partisan gerrymanders.
This has the possibility to create a constitutional crisis. If the next Democratic Congress is prevented from enacting much of its agenda by a partisan Supreme court, this may lead to court-packing or other serious retaliation against the judicial branch. By handing a president not chosen by the people a second Supreme Court nomination, Anthony Kennedy’s ultimate legacy may be the destruction of the court as we know it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
All countries with the British model (UK, Australia, Canada, etc.) plus most of Scandanavia have parlimentary systems with a figurehead monarch, so obviously aren't counted amount the 33.
Those within the 33 range from places like Mongolia and Turkey who have sham parlimentary systems elected simultaneously with the national leader who automatically wins when the party wins to more normal parlimentary systems who follow a similar pattern on the surface and don't allow the voter to pick, for example, a leader from one party and a legislator from another. So yeah, they are voting for the head of state in a direct sort of way when they choose their parliment. But there is a huge difference between their parlimentary versions. The national leader or strongman in, say, the Turkish system really owns the legislators. Under the Polish or Finnish system, they are just the head of state which the legislators can and often do turn against when the winds of politics shift.
This is also the rule in the figurehead monarcy systems such as Canada and Japan.
The stupid PEW chart does nothing to separate this reality and has an agenda of isolating the United States by presenting facts in this warped manner. Remeber when Saddam was in power in Iraq and the mainstream news was treating an election there as an actual election with an uncertain outcome?
The truth of the matter is that our electoral system has far more in common with the parlimentary system in Finland or Poland than these countries have with the parlimentary system in Mozambique or Turkey. And still more in common with figurehead monarchical systems such as Canada or Australia, whose only distinguishing feature is (a)they have a figurehead monarch and (b)their legislature chooses the head of state.
For example, it is theoritically possible for Canada's voters to sweep out Justin Junior's party and for the new parliment to vote to keep Junior as head of state. The chances of such a happening are, of course, near zero.
Remember that PEW is an organization with an agenda.
Wrong. The final blow has not yet fallen. This is one in a long string of winning that has only begun a 17 month string that will last for 96 months or more.
Tired of winning yet? The marathon has only begun.
These people will go crazy when the President wins reelection in a landslide.
Gotta thank you for that
Fat Boy’s wail of “ Whaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Embrace the suck Bubba.
Amen
Ducks Unlimited has a political web forum now?
LOL! Every time I see “DU,” that’s exactly what I think of! And I don’t know why, because I’m not even a hunter.
Maybe Ducks Unlimited got the initials first...
Didn’t carry the one ... thanks!
I’m available...just saying if they’re looking for a skinny old wise ass...I’m not doing anything right now.
Did you know it is impossible to be pro-business. That is to say pro-business if you are racist and anti women. Really look at the demographics on the workforce. There’s the indicators business doesn’t run without racial diversity and women. So the author of this article is full of it.
Taking a shot at Justice Kennedy because he didn’t align his life goals with your poorly constructed thought process is just not right.
Incredible how radical these people really are.
It would almost be a parody if things were not so deadly serious.
this is NBC “News”
????
I wouldnt give a plugged nickel for the future of these non-journalist liars/cheats/frauds/propagandist/traitors.
BOYCOTT
Nutty nonsense. And he teaches college. Remind me again why we spend so much on "student aide" so people can "learn" from people like this? We need to open up all of that aide, if it is going to exist, to allowing people to use it go to trade and vocational schools rather than "learning" this garbage.
Donald Trump is no uber rightist. He’s about where JFK was except without the racial bigotry.
The left’s big angst is losing its long lasting catbird seat. That going down, it’s breaking into a tantrum. If Donald Trump has so much as a pinhole theyll find it and hammer on it. The right has its own challenge — not to break into a rage itself. For then Satan wins.
Call it redneck nationalism. (Rednecks come in many colors.)
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