In my July 10, 2024 post  of this article to this website, I said that Justice Scalia “quoted from this toothless SCOTUS Code of Ethics to refuse to recuse from cases associated with the January 6, 2021 insurrection even though, according to him, his wife flew an upside-down American flag at one of their homes and an ‘Appeal to Heaven’ flag at another.”  The name “Scalia” was in error.  The name should have been “Alito.”  I apologize for the mistake.  This error was corrected concurrent with this apology.

Eulus Dennis

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

In the 2024 presidential election…

Like your life depends upon it…

It does!

The conservative supermajority in the Supreme Court has lost their minds.  One would think that after witnessing the chaos that they brought upon the country after they overturned Roe v. Wade that it would have given them pause about what they had done and motivated them to correct their course: but it did not.  Instead, because it appeared to them that they had gotten away with it, they continued to do asinine things, like overturning Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. and make asinine rulings, like in Trump v. United States.  It seems that they did this with the thought in mind that they would grab unfathomable power for themselves but let the lower courts figure out what they meant in their gobbledygook rulings and how to apply the gobbledygook to cases that come before them.

The SCOTUS even tried to take some of the heat off their backs caused by the scandalous behavior of some of its justices by using this gobbledygook to mitigate what were arguably, in essence, bribes taken by some SCOTUS justices.  E.g., in the case where they overturned the bribery conviction against ex-mayor of Portage Indiana James Snyder, they employed mumbo jumbo about gratuities and whether money or other gratuities are received before or after an action is taken to justify the SCOTUS’ ruling to overturn the Snyder ruling.  Whether intended or not, this ruling could eventually be used to mitigate past and potential future acceptance of “gratuities” by SCOTUS justices if not totally preclude the acceptance of “gratuities” by SCOTUS justices from being viewed as scandalous behavior.

While all of this was going on, Chief Justice John Roberts declined the request by a congressional committee for him to come testify, the SCOTUS created a Code of Ethics that has no enforcement apparatus, Justice Alito quoted from this toothless SCOTUS Code of Ethics to refuse to recuse from cases associated with the January 6, 2021 insurrection even though, according to him, his wife flew an upside-down American flag at one of their homes and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag at another, and now, the SCOTUS is on break until October 2024.  And, in the meantime, Democratic senators have sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland asking the Department of Justice to initiate a criminal investigation of Justice Clarence Thomas for violating ethics rules and tax laws and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has filed impeachment articles against Justices Thomas and Alito.

This will likely generate a ball of confusion on capitol hill as those who support Justices Thomas and Alito will circle the wagons around them and say that such an investigation and articles of impeachment are politically motivated nonsense.  Then, they will quote from the toothless SCOTUS Code of Ethics to emphasize their point.  My, my.  Whether they investigate Justice Thomas or whether they do not; whether Justice Alito recuses from cases associated with the January 6, 2021 insurrection or whether he does not, whether Chief Justice John Roberts finally agrees to testify before congress or whether he does not, why can’t the SCOTUS just adopt a Code of Ethics in line with those of all the other courts in the land?!  This would not be a magic wand to end the SCOTUS’ problems but it would go a long way toward solving them.  Ultimately – in summary, the job of the SCOTUS is to 1) Interpret and apply the Constitution, 2) Conduct judicial review, 3) Be the final arbiter of the law, and 4) Ensure equal justice under the law for all Americans.  Maybe solving their internal problems would help them to get back to these things.

Even if we consider the SCOTUS’ job based on the few items in the above summary, of course, it is much more complex than this and I am obviously over simplifying, the SCOTUS has suddenly veered far of course.  It has suddenly overturned longstanding (stare decisis?) seminal precedents when nothing on the SCOTUS has changed except the number of conservative justices; they have a supermajority.  No meaningful revelations in these longstanding rulings have occurred.  No genuine epiphany by anyone, relevant to the law, has transpired!  Sadly, the only reasonable conclusion that one can draw from this is that all the talk about the importance and baked-in meaningfulness of stare decisis in already decided cases that the last three justices appointed to the SCOTUS spouted during their confirmation hearings was, like that of the writings of the SCOTUS’ latest rulings, gobbledygook, and mumbo jumbo!

The bottom line is that Democrats need a sweep in the November 2024 presidential election.  They need to win the Presidency, House, and Senate and they need to win them with a significant majority.  And if they win, they must begin reform in the SCOTUS immediately.  They must rescind all the things that those who want to make America something other than a democracy have put into place.  This will begin to reestablish America as that city upon a hill and clear beacon of hope that she has always been and remains.  But because her light has been dimmed by the opaque stain that those who would prefer to have an autocrat or a king have applied to her, the American people must work hard to regain the trust of “all” Americans and democracies around the world.

We can do this!  However, to achieve it, Democrats need all American voters to get out and vote in this election.  I have no doubt that American voters will choose democracy over autocracy or a King.  It is important that you decide between the candidates on the ballot!  Do not write in the name of a candidate because that will be tantamount to sitting out the election!  So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!  Vote in the 2024 presidential election…  Vote like your life depends upon it…  It does!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

In the 2024 presidential election…

Like your life depends upon it…

It does!

Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) of America Justices are just politicians in black robes.  And now, the conservative (Republican) justices are fighting to crown Trump King of America.  It is reasonable to believe that these politicians are pulling for him to win the 2024 presidential election because they just ruled in his favor in Trump v. United States: They granted him complete immunity for all acts that he took while he was president.  Oh sure, in the 119 pages of the ruling, written by SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts, the Court said a lot of mumbo jumbo about official acts, unofficial acts, absolute immunity, and presumptive immunity but they did not define or in any way clarify what these things were.

Instead, they left that up to Judge Tanya Chutkan who is handling Trump’s trial in a lower court.  And upon appeal, which is more likely than not to happen, after Judge Chutkan makes her ruling, the decision will end up right back in the Supreme Court.  That way, based upon the fact that they ruled as they did in the first place on presidential immunity, it is reasonable to believe that they will define and clarify things in Trump’s favor.  Then in the future, depending on whether there is a Democrat or a Republican president, it is reasonable to assume that they will continue in that vein: They will rule one way if it is a Democrat and another way if it is a Republican.

If Trump wins the 2024 presidential election, this SCOTUS ruling along with the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 (a.k.a. The Presidential Transition Project) document will give Trump all of the authority that he needs to rule like a king, have a roadmap to eradicate democracy as we now know it and implement the changes listed in Project 2025, and continue to avoid being held to account for any wrong that he has done just as he has always done throughout his whole life.  Even if he loses the election and does not become king, he will still likely be cleared of any crimes, civil or criminal, that he committed while he was president if information from “official acts” (a key piece of the SCOTUS mumbo jumbo) was used to indict/convict him.

Further, he is likely to be cleared of any crimes – again, civil or criminal, he committed before he held office if information from “official acts” while he was in office was used to indict/convict him.  So, you see, the chameleon act by the SCOTUS is no longer in play.  It is all in; it is very carefully concealing its hand.  And it is daring the American people to call.  If the American people do call, the outcome of the 2024 presidential election will be the evidence of whether the SCOTUS was bluffing or held a winning hand.  In other words, if President Biden is reelected, the SCOTUS was bluffing; if Trump wins, they had a winning hand.  So, if the American people do not call and the SCOTUS is holding a winning hand, the only difference will be that accepting the outcome might be a little less painful: but the results will be the same.

I cannot overstate how important it is for all American voters to get out and vote in the 2024 presidential election.  You must get out and vote like your life depends on it; because it does!  Do not sit this one out because you do not like either candidate, think that both are too old to be president, or for any other reason.  And when you do get out and vote, do not write in the name of a candidate since you know that this candidate cannot win.  You are not helping the situation and to do that is tantamount to sitting out the election.  Do not make excuses as to why you are not going to vote.  The 2024 presidential election is a binary decision; either you want America to remain a democracy or you do not.  Make a decision, not excuses.  VOTE!  And always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

The debate between President Joe Biden and the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America is over.  And I will start by saying President Joe Biden is still the man who should run against Trump in the 2024 presidential election.  In case you might think that how I addressed Trump in the title of this article is harsh, it is no worse than how major newspapers addressed President Biden.  Look at the headlines about President Biden in most of the major newspapers in America and around the world immediately after the debate then see if you still feel the same way.

Just so that you will know, if you did not watch the debate; during most of the debate, one of the hosts addressed both convict Trump and President Biden as President.  No deference, distinction, esteem, dignity, or honor – choose any one of these words that you would like, was granted to President Joe Biden for the distinguished job that he has done as president under extremely polarized partisan political circumstances and that of a convict who has been convicted on 34 felony counts and is awaiting charges in future trials that he has managed to avoid until after the 2024 presidential election.

Journalists who once supported President Biden turned their backs on him and completely slammed him based on one 90-minute broadcast!  They showered him with blistering comments about his debate performance before encouraging him to drop out of the race!  Many Democrats also jumped on the bandwagon.  They said things like, although President Biden has been a good president, perhaps it is time for him to go and that it would be selfish of him not to drop out.  I have always admonished those who read this blog to base their voting decisions on a politician’s record and not on a soundbite.  Perhaps I should add “broadcast” and say that those decisions should be based on a politician’s record and not “a soundbite or one 90-minute broadcast.”  Perhaps the journalist of those major newspapers would benefit from the advice offered in this humble blog.

To contextualize those headlines and comments so that you will better understand just how completely harsh they were, consider this; President Biden was debating a person to whom the word truth is just a conjured-up word that does not actually exist.  The truth is what I say it is could easily be his mantra.  Again, no deference, esteem, honor, dignity, distinction, etc. was granted to President Biden as the President of the United States of America over a convict and serial liar who has been convicted on 34 felony counts and was awaiting a July 11, 2024 sentencing, which has been delayed until September 18, 2024 thanks to “[his] judges” at the Supreme Court.  There was no semblance of respect for the office that President Biden holds in which he has served with dignity and honor over his opponent who, arguably, instigated the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the United States capitol in an effort to remain in power after he lost the 2020 election.  While President Biden debated within the boundaries of truth, Trump, oblivious of those boundaries, spewed pablum – saying whatever came to his mind, mostly lies, to rebut the president and gaslight debate viewers.

Republicans say that Democrats do not fight for what they believe in.  Democrats went a long way in providing some validity to this after the debate.  What do I mean by this?  Donald Trump has said so many derogatory things about women, immigrants, fallen soldiers, and people of color, that I will not even try to list them all.  But to name a few, he said 1) You can grab women by their p***y…” 2) [Mexican immigrants] are bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some, I assume are good people.” 3) Fallen soldiers are “suckers” and “losers.”  4) Regarding people who are crossing America’s southern border: They’re taking Black Jobs.  They’re taking Hispanic jobs. 5) Black people like me because of my mug shot.  Plus, lest American voters should forget, Trump is a convict!  Despite all of this, Republicans have circled the wagons around him.

Now, contrast this with the kind of support that President Biden is receiving from Democrats.  President Biden has done a yeoman’s job since he has been in office of carrying out the Democrats agenda even with a slim majority in the senate and a Republican controlled House.  He has always been looked upon as a patriot and a person of honor.  His dedication to serving America with dignity and honor has never been questioned: His determination to protect America against all enemies foreign and domestic, preserve democracy in America and foster democracy around the world has never been questioned.  Recently, President Biden participated in a debate with Trump and, based on the optics – emphasis on optics because a debate between two people with only one being bound by the parameters of truth is fundamentally not a debate, failed.  No consideration was shown President Biden for having been bound by the parameters of truth while Trump was free to say whatever came to mind without the slightest regard for truth.  What did Democrats do?  Did they circle the wagons around President Biden?  No, they cut bait and ran!

Many Democrats now want to run someone else against Trump; they do not know who and do not seem to be concerned about whether the system within which Democratic nominees must operate is set up to handle this kind of a situation, especially at the last minute.  I started this article by saying that President Biden is still the man who should run against Trump.  I will end it by saying that Democrats need to work with President Biden and figure out a path forward without him withdrawing from the race.  I have said before that the cavalry is not coming to save the American people from Donald J. Trump, this one is on us and we must save ourselves: and we must do it through our vote.  After the Supreme Court’s 7/1/2024 presidential immunity ruling, this is our only option.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line