Despite its scandalous behavior and amidst the growing number of scandals and ethics problems, the not so Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) continues to roll out rulings telling the rest of us how to live based on the law-of-the-land.  Led by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court appears to be oblivious to the increasing lack of trust that Americans have in it and the rulings that it renders.

Chief Justice Roberts and most of the members of the court apparently believe that the law-of-the-land rules apply to everyone except them.  They currently police themselves and whenever they are asked to apply the same rules to themselves that apply to all other judges in America, the only answer that they can muster is “we’re special.”

No, the SCOTUS justices do not use the words “we’re special” but when all the rhetoric and spin is removed from their response to this question, the only and real answer to it is, “we’re special.”  And when the conservative members of the House and Senate are asked to assist congress in bringing the SCOTUS justices into line with rules that apply to the rest of the judges in the American justice system since they will not do it themselves, they balk at doing so.  And whenever they are asked why they will not help to reign in SCOTUS justices and apply these rules to them, when all the rhetoric and spin is removed from their response, the only and real answer to it is “they are special… and so are we.”

SCOTUS Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are currently associated with scandals that involve taking gifts from billionaires, not reporting them, and still voting on rulings that come before the court involving these same billionaires.  Further, while they are neither as blatant nor receive as much public attention as do the scandals and ethics problems involving justices Thomas and Alito, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch also have problems related to ethics and proper SCOTUS decorum.  Unfortunately, this may only be the tip of the iceberg.

While SCOTUS justices are accepting expensive gifts from their billionaire friends, they are hearing cases that involve them and ruling in their favor.  While these favorable rulings might not be against the law, they certainly have the appearance of showing favoritism and are not good for a court that is at its lowest approval rating in its history.  And even if they are not dishonoring themselves and the court through these actions, this scandalous behavior is appalling!

In the meantime, those previously mentioned congresspersons who are refusing to intervene to bring the SCOTUS justices back to their senses and into line with the rules that apply to all other American judges, are putting their collective knee on the necks of regular hardworking Americans and those who have sought or are seeking to better themselves via a better education.  Is it that these folks are not “too big to fail that allows their attackers to be so ruthless in their attacks?!

Many of these congresspersons who are beating down these regular hardworking Americans and those who have sought or are seeking to better themselves via a better education, have recently benefited from the same kind of relief that they are refusing to allow President Biden to offer to their fellow Americans.  Do you remember the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)?

Even the SCOTUS’S, and maybe even some of these congressperson’s, billionaire friends have likely benefited from this government program.  These things notwithstanding, congress firmly believes that student debt-forgiveness is strictly a no-no and cannot be tolerated.  That is why they are fighting to prevent it and support the SCOTUS student debt-forgiveness ruling.

With all the rulings decreasing the rights of Americans rendered by the SCOTUS since the election and then the defeat of The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, it is no wonder that Democrats believe that the SCOTUS has been hijacked by Republicans and is doing the will of conservatives by implementing their agenda.  When Roe v. Wade was overturned, Justice Clarence Thomas warned that the court should (would?) revisit other long-standing decisions that it had made.  Affirmative Action was among those decisions that Justice Thomas referenced.

The court’s recent decision overturning the use of Affirmative Action in colleges and universities in admitting students, although not unexpected, was an ominous and devastating one that actualized Justice Thomas’ warning.  The question now is, if the SCOTUS is serious about eliminating the consideration of Affirmation Action in admitting students to colleges and universities then why not also forbid legacy consideration in admitting them?  After all, legacy too is Affirmative Action.

It is likely that the great majority of these conservatives who disagree with the premise of Affirmative Action also do not agree with reparation, having people of color attend the same schools that they or their children attend, having people of color live in the same neighborhood that they or their children live in, having people of color earn as much money as they earn for performing the same job, etc.  If my assumption is correct, then why is it that these same people who do not agree with Affirmative Action and those other things mentioned immediately above are adamant about preventing Black people from establishing our own strong economic centers.

Instead of allowing them to do this and instead of 1. leaving Black people alone and allowing them to establish their own strong economic centers they opt to either sabotage or destroy them.  A perfect example of the behavior by people who think this way is what happened to “Black Wall Street” in Tulsa in May 1921.  They bombed this area into oblivion and took many Black lives while doing so.  2. Taking land away from Black people that they rightfully own.  A good example in this case is the prime Southern California beachfront property that was taken away from a Black family who owned it in 1924 and not returned to them until 2022.

Of course, the two examples above are miniscule in comparison to the number of times that Black people were either swindled out of land that they owned or not given the opportunity to acquire free land offered to Americans by our government like their White counterparts.  These are simple facts and no matter how hard anyone might try to change or erase history; the facts remain.

They cannot forever hide how Black people arrived in America.  They cannot forever hide how Black people and other people of color were, and still are treated in America.  They cannot forever hide how the American government has worked to make it harder for Black people and other people of color to vote or prevent them from voting.  Although they cloak their efforts to do these things in a shroud of death by a thousand cuts rather than one fell swoop; even our not so supreme SCOTUS can change that.

Today’s Trump-led Republican Party is demonstrating on a regular basis that they want to “make America great again” by taking America back to the times of the infamous Dred Scott decision when the SCOTUS decided that Black people “had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.”  I have a message for the Trump base and all the Trump sycophants and Trump worshipers who believe him when he says that the government has been weaponized to come after him because he is protecting you and is the only obstacle standing between you and it.

That message is that there is only one person that is truly important to Donald J. Trump and that person is Donald J. Trump.  You are important to him as long as you are completely loyal to him, including above self, and useful in helping him to achieve his goals.  Other than that, after he is finished “making America great again” by taking Black people back to the days of the infamous Dred Scott decision, if you are not or do not remain a part of his inner circle by remaining completely loyal to him, he will come after you.  That’s Trump’s America for you.  Are you sure that is what you want?

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Republican Party elected officials are the masters of projection.  That is what inspired the title of this article.  But because they do this so regularly, maybe it should have a real cool title like “The Projectors”, “Republican Projecting Calculus”, “Republican Politicians Projecting For Jobs”, “Republican Politicians Projecting To Subvert The Truth” – you know, kind of like, “the truth is what I say it is”, or even, “Republican Politicians Projecting To Fool People Because They Think That They Are The Smartest People In The World And They Are Slick As Slime And – The People, Their Constituents – Are Complete Idiots Because They Are Without A Brain.”  Well, maybe the last suggested title is a little long and therefore is not cool… so, let’s forget about that one.  Obviously, I am being facetious but if what Republicans are doing under America’s dire circumstances was not so serious, how they are conducting themselves would be laughable!

Anyway, these Republican politicians are treating Republican voters like they don’t have a brain or that they will continue to vote for them no matter what they do or how they conduct themselves as long as there is an “R” that precedes their name.  They are consistently referring to America as a banana republic, subverting the truth; “the truth is what I say it is”, rewriting history, stripping people of their long-held rights, effectuating wild gerrymandering, trampling on the poor, middleclass, and those without a voice, working tirelessly to subvert “the rule of law”, trying to make the American democracy an autocracy, and doggedly supporting a man – the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, who has consistently lied and continues to lie to achieve personal gain and his political goals.  This man is a one term, twice impeached, held to account in a civil court for sexually abusing E. Jean Carol, indicted on federal charges – 37 counts – for mishandling classified information, former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  Wow… and yet, the Republican Party and its leadership have circled the wagons to protect him!

Republicans regularly refer to America as a banana republic because they allege that Democrats have weaponized the government to abuse Republicans and steal elections from them; can you believe it!  These are things that the Republican Party is doing right now, and have been doing since at least the time that Mr. Trump was elected The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  And they have not only been doing this to Democrats; they have been doing it to all the American people!  The current Republican Party is the personification of projection!

It does not matter whether the Republican Party is simply a sea of cowards or are purposely putting Party over country.  The fact of the matter is that they are miserably failing to fulfil the oath they took when they were sworn into office; to protect America against all enemies foreign and domestic.  Republican voters deserve better than this: all Americans deserve better than this!

Mr. Trump allegedly instigated his supporters into attacking the United States capitol on January 6, 2021 and it appears that he is doing the same thing to encourage them to violence when he is indicted on Tuesday, June 13, 2023.  Hopefully, no violence will take place.  But in the event that it does, again – hopefully, all levels of government will have prepared to deal with the situation and will resolve it in as peaceful manner as possible.

All Americans should be extremely concerned about the situation that our country finds itself in because our democracy is at stake.  This is not a Democrat or Republican crisis; it is an American crisis.  Each of us has a brain, even if these Republican politicians think otherwise, and we must use it.  Martin Luther King, Jr. said “the time is always right to do the right thing.”  There should never be a time when we acquiesce to politicians and allow them to dictate to us how to think and it is especially important that we don’t allow this to happen during this time of an existential crisis for the American democracy.

No matter our Party affiliation, we should and must do the right thing now no matter how long we have been doing the wrong thing.  Republican voters must put those Republican politicians who are abusing the privilege voters gave them to lead them on notice that this will not be tolerated. Then, if they refuse to listen and correct their course, remove them from office by voting for politicians who will uphold their oath of office and always put America before Party and political ambition.

Reasonable Democratic politicians and reasonable Republican politicians can always have reasonable discourse in order to find common ground.  However, these reasonable politicians will not just magically appear, they must be voted into office.  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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Every day it is getting harder to watch the Trump Republican Party impose its will upon the American people; to watch the demise of the truth and possibly our country.  The former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation of E. Jean Carroll and has at least four other ongoing legal investigations in which he faces serious charges that could include jail time if he is indicted, then convicted when tried.  Still, he is running for president in 2024 and is the overwhelming favorite candidate to be the Republican nominee based on current polls.

To make matters worse, none of the incumbent Republican politicians seem to care about their constituents… except during election cycles, and at those other times when it is convenient to do so.  It appears that rather than having sought election to serve their country and a cause greater than themselves, they have obviously sought election to pursue their personal political ambitions and to accumulate as much power and money as possible.  They expect the middleclass to carry the financial burden of the country.  They know that the rich do not pay their fair share of taxes and that some of them, even billionaires, pay no tax at all.  They ignore their constituents and accommodate them only in times of convenience without fear of being voted out of office because of the extreme gerrymandering that the Republican Party has effectuated.

This current Republican Party has further gravitated toward the rich and powerful and has, therefore, become even a greater haven for their lobbyists.  There is no longer any agency at the federal government level that acts as an advocate for the average person and those without a voice.  The Consumer Protection Agency?  It exists in name only; kind of like the Voting Rights Act after it was gutted by U. S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts.  Is there even anyone at all at the federal level who is advocating for the average person and those without a voice?!

If there is, they need to show up and stand up now!  Just look at what is happening to those average people with an Adjustable-Rate Mortgage (ARM) or a Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC), they are being killed by higher interest rates!  As for the Republican Party and its party leaders – like Mitch McConnel and his Lieutenants and other high-profile Republican senators, they are tacitly supporting all these Republican shenanigans by way of their deafening silence!  Even while Speaker Kevin McCarthy and, what used to be, the extreme right wing of the Republican Party uses their refusal to lift the debt limit to hold America hostage, these Republican senators and others in their party remain mum!  And they do this knowing fully well that not lifting the debt limit will destroy the American economy and have a devastating effect on the world economy.

If you are among those many Americans who are asking themselves why is the Republican Party so comfortable with doing these things when poll-after-poll shows that they are completely in opposition to the will of most of the American people, the answer is simple.  In addition to the previously mentioned extreme gerrymandering that the Republicans have effectuated, they are acutely aware of other things that are now favorable to them such as 1. A United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS), which has a conservative supermajority that seems eager to do Republicans’ will.

It is worth noting here that the SCOTUS is at its lowest approval level in the history of its existence because many of the American people view it as corrupt and many of its Justices as simply politicians in black robes.  And based on the scandals that it is currently plagued with; the top priority of its Justices appears to be money and power.  Many Americans feel that these Justices are without ethics, feel that they are above the law and so, in essence, thumb their noses at all other components of the legislative branch of government.

And 2. The so-called Red States, which are a microcosm of what is happening with the U.S. Supreme court and federal-level Republican politicians and are also eager to do the Republican Party’s will.  Republican legislators in these Republican controlled states are ignoring the will of the majority and enacting laws that are completely against the will of most of the people there.

Right now, with the way that Republicans in congress are conducting themselves, the SCOTUS might be the greatest concern that Americans are faced with if we intend to preserve our Democracy, because it is the foundation of the rule of law.  Further, since the single source of the SCOTUS’ power is the trust of the American people and only about 25 percent of Americans trust it, this problem is in dire need of correction.  Yet, currently, SCOTUS is left to police itself and address this lack of trust.  That is why the SCOTUS is likely our greatest concern right now and a major component as to why the American democracy is teetering on the edge of disaster.

On the contrary, although the SCOTUS is of great concern and Republicans control the House, Democrats control the senate.  Although that control is by a razor-thin margin and they must contend with the Joe Manchin, Kyrsten Sinema factor (Senator Kyrsten Sinema has switched parties and Senator Joe Manchin is, well, just being Joe Manchin) – Democrats are not working to destroy the American democracy.  Plus, congress – Democrats and Republicans, is constrained by checks and balances.  The SCOTUS has no such checks and balances and so is left to monitor and control itself.  It is obvious that this is not working and that serious changes need to be made to how the SCOTUS operates.  Based on the existing circumstances surrounding the SCOTUS and how it operates, until those changes are made, it is the SCOTUS that potentially poses the most serious concern as regards our democracy.

American voters could rid ourselves of these kind of politicians by voting them out of office.  However, based on the last few election cycles, it appears that voters are not willing to do this.  Neither Democratic nor Republican candidates for office can win without strong support from women.  It is surprising how many women voted for Republican candidates during the 2016, 2020 and 2022 elections.  Even after all the derogatory and demeaning things that the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America said about women, the percent of women who voted for him rose from 39% in 2016 to 44% in 2020…  Go figure!  Specifically speaking – it was suburban, rural (generally speaking, another name for White women) women who pushed Mr. Trump over the top in the 2016 election and certainly contributed to the increase from the 39 % in 2016 to the 44% in 2020.

So even with the overturning of Roe v Wade and Republican lawmakers’ continuing ruthless attacks on women; stripping them of their long-held rights, one should not automatically assume that these women will vote to prevent Mr. Trump or someone like him from becoming president in 2024.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

Let’s take a trip down memory lane starting from Kevin McCarthy’s successful bid to become Speaker of the House to our current state of affairs in US governance.  After four days and fourteen failed tries, on the 15^th try, Kevin McCarthy became Speaker of the House.  It has been more than 150 years since it took more than 12 rounds of voting to select a Speaker.  And in the process of winning the job, Kevin McCarthy managed to sell his soul to six extreme rightwing House members.  Those six members held Kevin McCarthy and the other 215 Republican House members hostage until Mr. McCarthy made himself the weakest Speaker of the House in the history of congress.

He did this by way of bargaining away to those six hostage-takers virtually all the power of the Speaker: power that has customarily been used by Speakers to help control caucus members during stressful, tough, and extensive negotiations and shepherd controversial but necessary legislation through the bill-to-law process.  Mr. McCarthy did this based mainly on his selfish lust to hold the Speaker’s gavel and advance his personal political ambitions.  And he apparently did this without any regard for the sanctity of the institution.

Some information in this article is obviously old news since Mr. McCarthy has been Speaker of the House for slightly more than two months now but it is worth writing to help those of you who are not constant consumers of cable news better understand what the new Republican Party is all about.  Among the main things that have happened since Mr. McCarthy has been speaker is that the House established a committee called the “Weaponization of the Federal Government” subcommittee.  This committee is chaired by Representative Jim Jordan and its task is to “investigate how the executive branch collects information on and investigates U.S. citizens ‘including ongoing criminal investigations.’”

Hey, wait!  Isn’t Jim Jordan somehow mixed up in the January 6 insurrection and is a potential person of interest and even a possible target in this ongoing litigation?  And isn’t he a staunch Trump ally and MAGA man?  Well surprise, surprise…  Very, very interesting.  Of course, we all know that he would not use any information he might gather regarding this ongoing litigation to help his own case.  And if he would not do that, then certainly he would not share any of it with Mr. Trump or any of the “patriots,” so called by Republicans, who were involved in the insurrection in order to help their case.

Having said that, I believe that we all can agree that the name of this committee is a misnomer because it is obvious that its real purpose is to obfuscate issues and mislead the public.  The actual name of the committee should be The Jim Jordan Committee because this would accurately reflect its real purpose.  In the meantime, while the chaos of this subcommittee is  going on, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has given Fox News’ Tucker Carlson exclusive access to more than 41,000 hours of the January 6 riot tapes.  What’s that all about?!

Anyway, another thing that he has done is to give many, if not all, of these previously mentioned hostage-takers positions on coveted committees that are strongly sought after by all members of the Republican caucus.  For example, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, House Committee on Homeland Security and the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.  Representative Matt Gaetz is on the Armed Services Committee and the Judiciary Committee.  Representative Lauren Boebert serves on the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability as does Representative Paul Gosar.

Since Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene serves on the Committee on Homeland Security, that makes it even more disturbing that she has suggested dividing America into red and blue states and giving Jacob Chansley, the QAnon Shaman, a new trial, especially since he never had a trial but pled guilty to the charges leveled against him.

At the beginning of this article I said that we would take a trip down memory lane starting from Kevin McCarthy’s successful bid to become Speaker of the House to our current state of affairs in US governance.  Well, although the following is not directly related to Mr. McCarthy becoming Speaker, it is worth noting that Republican legislatures throughout America are making it harder for Americans to vote by passing laws based on Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him because it was rife with voter fraud.  Mr. Trump’s popularity is waning but he is still very popular overall in the Republican party and especially with its extreme rightwing constituents.  Voters need to consider what is happening around America legislatively now because the 2024 election will soon be upon us.

A couple of prime examples of how the enthusiasm for legislative action associated with Mr. Trump, his popularity despite the “Big Lie,” and his style of governing is occurring in Florida and Georgia.  Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis is running Florida like he is the dictator of his own little piece of America.  He has taken away Disney World’s long held authority to self-govern because they have dared to disagree with him on certain issues and awarded that responsibility to himself.  For a long time now, he has been banning various books, dictating to pre-K – college educators what curriculum they can teach and mandating that they use only specific approved pronouns when addressing their male and female students.

In Georgia, that legislature has passed a bill that puts the power to fire “rogue” prosecutors that they don’t like or who might disagree with them in their own hands even though some of those legislators are potential persons of interests or targets of at least one of these so called “rogue” prosecutors.  This bill has already passed in the Georgia Senate and is on its way to the House.  If it passes there, Governor Kemp is expected to sign it.

Democracy in America is under attack by the Republican Party.  Unfortunately, even those Republican politicians who stood firm against Mr. Trump’s “Big Lie” and refused to say that the 2020 election was stolen from him are in support of what Georgia is doing.  Silence is complicity!  The entire Republican Party is involved in this attack on our democracy and they must be called out for it.  To stand strong in one moment and relent, whether explicitly or tacitly, in the next is not acceptable.  Those who stood strong against Mr. Trump’s “Big Lie” but are now supporting the Republicans attack on the American democracy must not be labeled heroes because they are not.

Finally, if you do not live in the state of Georgia, you might be thinking, that’s an entirely different state so that doesn’t impact on me.  What legislators in Georgia do is none of my concern.  Think again.  All of us – whether we are Democrats, Republicans, or Independents, must remember that the attacks on Roe v. Wade began at the state level and those waging that battle while more and more states joined in, fought relentlessly until Roe was, as impossible as it may have seemed, finally overturned.

What the legislature in Georgia is doing puts the entire democratic system in jeopardy as Republicans push America toward authoritarian rule.  This encompasses all Americans and includes the legislative and judicial branches of government.  Even the very comfortable, rightwing super-majority Supreme Court should be wary of the monster that they are helping to create by conducting themselves like politicians in black robes rather than the apolitical Justices that they are supposed to be.  They may be able to control this monster right now but as it feeds on the destruction of democracy it will eventually grow stronger.  And it will continue to grow stronger until it is strong enough to tell those who created it to stand down or be put down.  You don’t believe it?  I give you the former “The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.”

The Republican Party, if they are being true to themselves, know that this is the case.  Recent history reveals that they were not able to control Mr. Trump and, as a result of their poor judgment, are continuing to pay a steep political price.  But at this point, as the Republican Party tries to rebuild itself, it is struggling with the decision as to whether it should gamble on the chance that this time it will be different.  That this time they will have put things into place that will give them the advantage that they did not have with Mr. Trump, which will enable them to control their creation; that they can eat their cake and have it too.

Most Americans know that this will not work.  They know that manipulating things in a democracy so that things will always turn out as they want them to is not a democracy at all because in a democracy, no one gets everything that they want.  Since all of us know that this is true, let’s stop the shenanigans now.  Let’s vote those politicians who would destroy our democracy out of office and replace them with those who will still fight for their constituents but always stand up for democracy and the American way of life.

There is no doubt that we can do this through the power of our vote.  But first, we must always work hard, in perpetuity, to assure that we are not stripped of this power systematically or otherwise.  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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

It’s alivvvve!  It’s alivvvve!  Do you remember that line in the Monster Frankenstein movie; it’s alive?  You know, it’s alivvvve!  Well, Republicans created and nurtured a monster during Donald J. Trump’s tenure as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and now it is completely out of control.  Now, they keep trying to put it into the coffin so that they can nail it shut, bolt it shut, wrap a few heavy chains around it and place strong padlocks on it to assure that he will not escape but they can’t.

They can’t because every time that they think that they have him in there, press the lid down and try to begin to nail it shut, ole Frankie stretches his arms out and pushes it open.  Republicans, especially coffin-workers, SCREAM and jump backward away from the coffin!  Then, when Frankenstein appears to simply be readjusting himself so that he can be more comfortable and does not climb all the way out of his coffin, the coffin-workers cautiously approach again and repeat their effort to seal Frankie’s fate.

So far, Republicans’ efforts to contain Frankie haven’t been productive.  How does one know that these efforts have not been fruitful?  Here’s how.  After all of the notes that they nailed to the doors at his home and the messages that they have incessantly promulgated via the media saying that they do not want him to run for reelection in 2024, and he should not announce – especially right after the midterm election, that he will run; Mr. Trump announced – right after the midterm election, that he will run for president in 2024.  The monster that they created because they believed that they could control him and use him to secure the Republican agenda is completely out of control.  It’s alivvvve!  It’s alivvvve!

But Republicans are really angry now so they are very strongly denouncing Mr. Trump whenever they are asked by the media whether they think that he should be president again and or if they would support him if he were the Republican nominee in 2024.  They are getting on any news shows throughout the country that will accept them and saying things like, the Republican Party has better choices than Donald Trump for 2024, the American people can reject Donald Trump in an effort to move away from divisiveness, I think that’s up to the American people, and well, there might be somebody else I’d prefer more.  While all of these comments were made by one Republican, former Vice President Mike Pence, comments coming from other elected Republican officials are either just as weak or not much stronger.  None of them are willing to directly denounce him.

In the meantime, because Mr. Trump is well aware of what these Republicans are trying to do to him and also knows that he is still facing multiple investigations some of which could ultimately involve criminal charges, he is using these – as he calls them – witch-hunt investigations and the fact that he has announced that he is running for president in 2024 to label himself as a victim.  Okay, now we have it; Mr. Trump is a “victim!”  This is his strategy.  He has implied victimhood for a long time but now that he has actually proclaimed it via his announcement to run for president in 2024, the victimhood strategy is no longer opaque, it is out in the open.

Having done this, it remains to be seen what Mr. Trump will do next.  However, his Republican sycophants in the House – having signaled for a long time now what they would do should they win the House in 2022 – are making their intensions clearer.  Like Mr. Trump who decided to clear things up now that he has declared that he will run for president in 2024, they want to be sure that Republican constituents understand exactly what they intend to do:  Attorney General Garland, retain all documentation regarding your investigation of Mr. Trump.  Hunter Biden, prepare for a reckoning.  Biden White House staff and Cabinet members, prepare to be investigated, they say!

Now that the air has been cleared so that everyone understands exactly what it is that Republicans are going to do once they take control of the House, Frankie does the Frankenstein walk – there’s nothing wrong with him physically, he just walks that way – back to his coffin and settles in again.  But for how long, nobody knows.  But there is little doubt that he will not allow anyone to nail his coffin shut…and bolt it…and wrap it with heavy chains secured with heavy padlocks.

Once Frankie is comfortably settled in, his sycophants – an oversize coffin had to be built for this purpose – scramble into spaces all around him sort of like a huge human cushion.  This not only protects him from bumping into the hard interior of his coffin while he is inside, but whenever he climbs out of it and they scramble out along with him, they cushion him from the onslaught of things like, let’s say, all of the ongoing investigations that he is caught up in and all kinds of questions from the media.  Questions like, why are you doing and saying all of the asinine things that you are doing and saying while you are already in enough trouble?  Wouldn’t it be better to just be quiet?

Anyway, once Frankie has settled into his coffin and has been well cushioned, the Republicans – especially the coffin workers, wait until things have grown quiet inside it before they once again cautiously approach it.  They cautiously and quietly place the lid on the coffin, press it down firmly and some of them hold it down while others with hammers and nails prepare to nail it shut.  But before a single nail has been struck, Frankie places his hands against the inside of the lid, pushes upward and stiffens his arms.  The Republicans, especially the coffin workers, SCREAM and jump backward away from the coffin.

This commotion startles the sycophants and so awakens them.  They begin to make all of these unique sycophant noises – which sounds cannot be expressed in writing; you have to hear them – and prepare to swing into action to shield Frankie.  But false alarm.  Frankie simply says, no one had better run against me to force a primary in 2024.  I’ll bury them!  The sycophants make more unique sycophant noises.  Then Frankie says, and you better not try to nail this coffin shut or secure it in any way!  If you do, I’ll bury you!  And he lays down again.  The sycophants make a few more unique sycophant noises before they too lay down, assume their assigned spaces and cushion him.  This further frightens the Republicans, especially the coffin workers, and they jump backward even further away from the coffin…  It’s alivvvve, it’s alivvvve, they say!

Epilogue

Hopefully, during these extremely stressful times and extraordinary circumstances in the history of our young country, a bit of humor will provoke a laugh that will relieve some of that stress; even if only for a brief moment.  Then – hopefully, all Americans, whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents will take a deep breath and continue the fight to keep our republic.  And finally – hopefully, we the people will resolve to settle any differences that we might have, no matter how great or how small, through reasonable discourse and not violence.

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

On the day of Election Day what came to mind for me was that the words of Maya Angelou – “When someone shows you who they are, believe them” – do not only apply to individual people but they apply to political parties and, by way of our system of governance, America overall, as well.  I mean, come on; how can we repeatedly say that this is not who we are as regards hate when the vote in this 2022 midterm election shows the world exactly who we are?!  The argument remains the same whether this hate is directed at an individual, their race, religion, ethnicity, gender or anything else.  Hate is hate!  In light of what happened on January 6, 2022, how can we say this is not who we are as regards democracy after the voting results of this 2022 midterm election shows the world exactly who we are?!  Insurrection is insurrection!

All Americans know that America is not perfect and that she never will be.  But we can, and should, always strive toward perfection.  That is the only way that a democracy can survive.  All of us should know by now that things will be messy more often than not but we have to be able to work our way through those things…without violence.  Messy is inherent in a democracy.  If we truly believe in democracy and are serious about it, any one of us who was or is in anyway involved in supporting anyone who plotted to subvert the American democracy needs to ask ourselves this key question.  Why?  And when we ask ourselves this question we should not rationalize and make excuses when we answer it.  There is no one else involved in questioning us and evaluating our answer.  Then, once we answer that question truthfully, we can decide whether we want an autocracy or a democracy and determine where we will go from that point.  If we opt for democracy then we must deal with the democratic process vis-à-vis, messy.

The “sea of cowards” that is the current Republican Party is just as guilty as the former The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America as regards the deterioration of our democracy.  A great injustice has been carried out against the American democracy since Mr. Trump arrived on the political scene and the Republican Party has been a willing participant in the blatant savaging of Lady Liberty.  Some of these elected officials have been active participants while others have participated tacitly.  But in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “there comes a time when silence is betrayal”; and that time is long past for those tacit participants.

There are those, foreign and domestic, who say that the American democracy is designed to be undemocratic.  Although I can accept their perspective as arguably correct, that perspective is what I view as the “messy” part of democracy, which is something that we have to continue to deal with as we strive toward perfection; as we strive to make America a more perfect union.  Unfortunately, as disgusting and frustrating as it may be to deal with the messiness of democracy, that’s just the way that it is.  As long as we live in a democracy, Americans will constantly have to deal with conspiracy theories, white supremacy, the QAnons of the world, the Donald Trumps of the world, the Marjorie Taylor Greenes of the world and the list goes on.

Most Americans would be hard-pressed to come up with a worse time for the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to even appear to be unsure of itself and faltering in their role as the virtual glue that holds the legal system together that allows America to be an effective rule of law nation.  Yet, here we are with a supermajority conservative SCOTUS that has cast aside stare decisis, something that every justice on the court said that they were committed to and would abide by, and overturned Roe v. Wade.  Wow!  Not only had Roe v. Wade been established law for almost 50 years but the great majority of Americans felt that, before it was overturned, it should remain law.  The only thing that changed that brought about the reversal of this law was that three new conservative justices were added to the Court during Mr. Trump’s tenure as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.

And as if overturning the Roe decision wasn’t controversial enough, the SCOTUS, after having already gutted the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 2013, suddenly saw fit to interject itself into a case that a lower district court had adjudicated and decided in favor of the plaintiffs who said that the Republican Party had drawn a gerrymandered map for the 2022 midterm election that involved extreme redistricting, which favored the Republican Party.  The SCOTUS overturned the lower courts’ ruling based in great part on the “Purcell principle which cautions against federal courts’ changing voting rules on the eve of an election.”  As a result of this SCOTUS ruling, the midterm election was likely affected in favor of the Republican Party.  Even if it wasn’t, it certainly has the appearance of having done so.  Are the SCOTUS justices simply politicians in long black robes?  If they are, how long have they been hiding it until they could become a supermajority?  And if they are not, their recent overall conduct, which includes more than merely the cases that they adjudicate, definitely gives the appearance that they are.

So, you see, this is our system of governance and this is how it works…for now.  Because there is obviously those among us in this fledgling democracy who feel that something is not right about what is happening at the SCOTUS right now and that it needs to be closely scrutinized and corrected, things will likely have to eventually get messy.  Then, there are those who think that no changes are required because the SCOTUS is fine just the way that it is.  In order to resolve the differences between those who feel that something is not right and those who feel that everything is fine as it is…  It’s messy time!

As Americans, if we want to keep our democracy, we must be willing to work for it in perpetuity.  If we are not willing to do that, then we cannot keep it.  Without question, that work includes voting; and not just in the presidential elections.  Win or lose, like the results or not, we must continue to perform our civic duty at all times.  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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

There is only six days left until Election Day and some voters are still struggling to decide how they will vote; will it be for Democrats or Republicans?  Donald Trump and his sycophants are not concerned about why these voters are undecided, they continue to relentlessly pound them with anti-democracy rhetoric and other disinformation.  All of the election deniers that are running for office are making it clear that they will not accept the outcome of their election bid if they lose.  Donald Trump and all of his supporters are busy badmouthing the election process in general and implying that elections are bad and not needed here or abroad.

Mr. Trump and his followers are doing everything that they can to create problems with elections where there are none.   Then, they complain about the problems that they have created and use them as an excuse to reinforce their allegations that elections are completely messed up and that is why no one needs them.  One glaring example of a problem that Mr. Trump and his sycophants have created is the demand to count ballots in Arizona counties by hand.

Katie Hobbs, the Arizona Secretary of State recently made this comment about the hand counts.  “With early voting well under way and less than two weeks from election day, these antics are doing more than creating chaos and confusion around the election and tabulation of ballots, which is wildly irresponsible,” she said.  In light of the just released emails surrounding the plan of Trump lawyers to overturn the 2020 election, this fits right in with Trump and his sycophants’ plan to return Mr. Trump to power; smoke and mirrors and chaos and confusion.

To make the things that are occurring in Arizona and in other states around our country even more sad and unsettling is that all Republicans in congress– with the exception of two, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, are either actively supporting these things, tacitly supporting them or are completely silent!  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said that “there comes a time when silence is betrayal.”  Dr. King is absolutely right.  Not only have these Republicans betrayed their oath of office in their greed and lust for power, they have betrayed the American people.  Any time that these elected officials are faced with a choice between defending the American democracy or circling the wagons and standing with Party, American democracy should always win!

There are those among the Republican faithful who might feel that they are comparable to those who fought in the first Crusades; who fought based on various motivations including religious salvation and economic or political gain.  Certainly, in the eyes of many during those times the end justified the means because their cause was just.  And there is little doubt that there are many Republicans, especially those who identify as evangelicals, who believe that Democrats are leading America in the wrong direction.  They believe that the policies for which Democrats are advocating and making the law of the land are so devastating that they must be stopped at their earliest stages.  And under these circumstances, the end justifies the means; their cause is just!  Many of them will weigh the cost of preventing these policies from spreading and becoming deep-rooted against democracy and might even opt for prevention at all costs.

Some of us might even agree with these Republicans that some of the policies and laws that Democrats are advocating for and putting into place are moving us in the wrong direction.  But to go with the end justifies the means approach and be willing to exchange our democracy for an autocracy to achieve those ends should be a bridge to far for all Americans whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.  That is where Republicans like Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger come in.  Representative Liz Cheney is as conservative and staunch Republican as any Republican can be!  And Representative Kinzinger is probably not far behind her.

These two brave Republicans, Representative Kinzinger says that they are not brave but simply surrounded by a sea of cowards, believe strongly in the establishment Republican party and embrace its policies and ideals.  They have demonstrated that they also believe in democracy, the Constitution and the rule of law.  How could any Republican choose Donald J. Trump, a man who almost every Republican has at one time or another called a liar and every other derogatory name that they could think of, over Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger who have chosen to honor their oath of office and stand on principle?

I am a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat and proud of it.  However, as I mentioned earlier in this article, when it comes to choosing between Party and democracy, we should always choose democracy.  In this case; however, heaping praise on Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger – which they deserve, and agreeing with them on some things that relate to American policy does not involve a choice between democracy and Party.  It’s a choice between who you would prefer to argue about those policies with; Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger and people like them or Donald J. Trump and people like him.

I know who I would prefer to see elected Democrats argue those policies with, and it’s not Donald J. Trump and people like him.  My hope would be that we would win some and that we would lose some because that is the essence of democracy: no one gets everything that they want.  Common ground is the key and that can only be reached through compromise.  But those arguments would have to begin with Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger and Republicans like them.  Any proffer that would involve Mr. Trump and/or his sycophants would be a non-starter.  This is how Democrats, Republicans and Independents should be assessing the situation as we navigate through these last six days before Election Day.

As American people, we absolutely must be able to agree to disagree and resolve our differences through reasonable discourse.  But in order to do this, we absolutely must have reasonable elected officials in office.  Perhaps it would be sufficient to give those who currently constitute that “sea of cowards” that Representative Kinzinger mentioned, a warning from voters that they need to stand up, step up and be counted or risk being voted out of office.  But there are more than 300 election deniers running for office in the 2022 midterm election and we, the American people, must let them know in no uncertain terms that we will not tolerate anyone as an elected official who is against or advocates against our democracy.  We can let them know by voting against them on Election Day.

Again, there are only six days left until Election Day.  Americans know that our enemies, whether foreign or domestic, are watching this midterm election and wishing those who love our democracy ill.  Let’s coalesce around democracy and those things that have always made and will continue to make America great!  Let’s show the world that America is still the leader of and chief defender of democracy.  Let’s show them that democracy is the best way to govern.

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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

• On the twelfth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “educate and be prepared to demonstrate.” That is, thoroughly educate yourself on all of the issues while you still can and properly prioritize them.  Then on Election Day, demonstrate that you fully comprehend those issues and know what is at stake by properly prioritizing them and voting for the top priority!
• On the eleventh day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “keep abreast of political issues in real-time and continue to review and properly prioritize all of them.”
• On the tenth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “beware of smoke and mirrors and cunning soundbites.” That is, watch what incumbent politicians and those politicians running for election/reelection do or have done and not what they say.
• On the nineth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “gas prices continue to be way too high and it hurts to go to the supermarket because food prices are still too high; and the crime… Maybe the Republicans…”  No, the Republicans can’t.  Republicans don’t have a magic wand they can wave and make everything better.  Remember, “watch what these politicians do or have done and not what they say!”
• On the eighth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “money and power v. democracy. Which of the two will it be?  It’s binary.”  That is, it has to be one or the other.  There are no other options available!  Keep your priorities straight!
• On the seventh day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “Democrats, Republicans and Independents; it’s a Party thing.” That is, I’m a (fill in the blank), I have to stick with my Party, right?  I know that the Republican Party has made a few mistakes lately but…  Again, “watch what these politicians do or have done and not what they say!  Keep your priorities straight; there is an existential threat to democracy!  You decide!  And it is you alone who can decide!
• On the sixth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “midterm election fatigue is knocking at my door.” That is, I am tired of all of the chaos, hearing about how America is a “rule of law” country and the law applies to all citizens equally while the rich and powerful are not held to account, listening to cunning political soundbites, watching the trust in the Supreme Court by Americans continue to plummet, and the list goes on.  Beware of smoke and mirrors!  And, keep your priorities straight; there is an existential threat to democracy and it impacts on Democrats, Republicans and Independents!
• On the fifth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “freedom is not free, we must fight for it!” That is, now is not the time to grow weary and quit.  This is what those who prefer an autocracy over a democracy are hoping for; that those who want America to remain a democracy will quit.
• On the fourth day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “lovers of democracy might grow weary but we will not quit!” That is, we will press forward through the weariness and we will continue to fight for democracy and that which is not free; freedom!
• On the third day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “even through uncertainty we have managed to keep our eyes on the prize and we are almost there.
• On the second day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “why are we Democrats so inept at messaging when we have had years to learn and get better at it?!” That is, why is the Republican party so much better at messaging than the Democrats?  Is that why so many races are extremely tight when we should be running away with them?!  Will we ever learn?!
• On the first day before Election Day what came to mind for me was, “why am I/are you so focused on criticizing the Democratic party instead of doing everything that I/you can to help turn out the vote under this unprecedented threat to the American democracy? Let’s keep our priorities straight!  Let’s focus and put all of our effort into saving America; saving our democracy!”
• On the day of Election Day what came to mind for me was, “I have already voted.” That is – in the spirit of what was mentioned on the twelfth day before Election Day in this article, “I have already educated and demonstrated.”  So, since I have already voted – I have always voted prior to Election Day, I need to cast all negative thoughts and thoughts about criticism aside.  Instead, I need to continue right up until the deadline to do everything that I can to encourage anyone who hasn’t voted to vote.

There you have it.  That’s the twelve days before Election Day food for thought list.  If this article encouraged even one person who would not have voted to get out and vote then I will consider my efforts a success.  I encourage anyone who reads this article to do everything that you can to encourage those that you know to vote.  If we want our vote to continue to count, we absolutely must “keep our priorities straight” and make sure that we vote for the top priority.

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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

In light of the politics in America right now and politicians and their political calculus as regards money and power or democracy, American voters are confronted with a binary choice.  That choice is between democracy and autocracy; and the world is watching.  Voters’ choice on November 8, 2022 is simple; democracy or autocracy!  And without our democracy, everything else on the ballot and in the minds of voters regarding changes that they want and feel that one party can bring and sustain as opposed to the other is completely meaningless!

Maya Angelou said “When people show you who they are, believe them the first time.”  The Democratic party has shown you who they are and the Republican party has shown you who they are.

The only thing that remains is for American voters to decide and validate by way of our vote on November 8^th, based on facts and not soundbites or alternative facts (lies), is whether we want to keep our democracy or exchange it for an autocracy.

The above quote is sage advice from Ms. Angelou.  And based on what we have seen from the Republican party since the election of Donald J. Trump as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America, his two impeachments, his loss to now President Joe Biden – which he still refuses to acknowledge and accept, and his antics since that loss, it would be extremely dangerous for American voters to continue not to believe them.

We can show them that we believe them on November 8, 2022 by voting to keep America a democracy and a country that truly believes in the rule of law; not one that only provides lip service to it.  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!  Be sure to vote on Tuesday November 8^th, your country is depending on you!

Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line

We are still about 20 days out from the midterm election and many of us pro-democracy voters are experiencing battle fatigue.  This is exactly what congressional Republicans – with the exception of two, Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, were hoping for.  I say two, specifically because only these two have displayed the courage to stand on their convictions and speak up and defend democracy.

I lean on two quotes from Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. to bolster my rationale for making this claim that there are sadly only two Republicans in the entire House and Senate in Washington who are not cowards and are willing to stand on their principles.  Those quotes are as follows:  1. During a meeting at Riverside Church in New York City, exactly one year before he was assassinated, Doctor King said “A time comes when silence is betrayal…  The truth of these words is beyond doubt, but the mission to which they call us is a most difficult one.”  And 2., he said that “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

The way that these Republican Representatives and Senators (“our friends”) are conducting themselves at a time when there is an existential threat to our democracy is astounding; so, I will understand if there are those who can’t help but to chuckle to themselves and muse as to whether I am using the word friend quite loosely.  However, my point is that all – with the exception of the previously mentioned two, of our elected congressional Republican officials in Washington have been measured and have come up short.  They have failed to honor their oath of office and, instead, have chosen to cling to power at all costs.  A failure to stand on principle and honor their oath – which, unfortunately has become normalized and most Americans wink at it, at any other time would be terrible enough but to fail to do these things at a time when our democracy is at stake is…  As previously mentioned, this is astounding!  It is all but unforgivable!  There is no excuse for such conduct!

The mission that these words, “A time comes when silence is betrayal”, call all Americans to is indeed a “most difficult one.”  It is a most difficult one because it pits us against one another.  It pits us against one another through ginned up hate and intentional lack of transparency: Democrats vs. Republicans, Whites vs. Blacks and other people of color, Whites vs. Jews, Christians vs. Non-Christians, immigrants vs. American citizens, them vs. us…  Divisiveness has been used as a weapon in politics for countless years but it was perfected by Donald J. Trump when he became The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America; and he continues even now to hone it as needed to fit his purposes each time that they change.

Mr. Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden but he has yet to admit that he lost.  The scary and most stressful thing for most Americans who live in the real world is that Mr. Trump is threatening to run again in 2024.  And he is threatening to do this even though he allegedly led a failed insurrection before he left office and committed numerous other crimes, which the preponderance of the evidence collected thus far indicates that he committed.  And although he is still under investigation for these crimes, polls indicate that he is still extremely popular.

Republican-controlled state legislatures throughout America have either enacted laws or are in the process of enacting laws that are based on Mr. Trumps “Big Lie” that the 2020 election was stolen from him due to rampant voter fraud.  Thorough investigations were conducted as a result of Mr. Trump’s allegations and no fraud was found; not even by Bill Barr, Mr. Trump’s Attorney General!  These laws that have been implemented or are in the process of being implemented by the above-mentioned legislatures are all based Mr. Trump’s “Big Lie” and no evidence!  They amount to nothing more than thinly veiled voter suppression, a tactic that these Republicans are using to keep Republicans in power!

Currently, there are many of Mr. Trump’s followers, a.k.a. election deniers, who agree with him that he did not lose the 2020 election.  They, like Mr. Trump, say that it was stolen from him and that he is still the legitimate The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  Some of those followers are running for office at local, state and federal levels in the 2022 midterm election.  Even with all of the evidence that is stacked up against Mr. Trump and with his current outrageous antics, due in no small part to his acumen concerning divisiveness and his demonstrated ability to con and manipulate people, there are those that continue to follow him as if he is the proverbial Pied Piper and so are committed to support these candidates simply because Mr. Trump has endorsed them.  Hence, polls indicate that almost all of these are tight.  America can’t afford to have people like these running the country if we intend to remain a democracy.

This is where we, the voters who love our democracy – whether we are Democrats, Republicans or Independents, come in.  Those elected leaders who are standing on principles and honoring their oath cannot fight those who would subvert democracy alone!  They need our help!  That is why we cannot become weary and disengage before the 2022 midterm Election Day; before the 2022 midterms are completely finished.  That is why we must turn out like we have never turned out before. It is likely that we will even have to continue to fight beyond that day.  We must realize that freedom is not free and that we must fight for it for as long as it takes.  With midterm races being tight, staunch election denier candidates running for office, voter suppression laws in place and extreme gerrymandering, Republicans feel that they have a real good chance of taking, win or lose, the midterm elections and retaking the House and Senate.

Finally, polls show that many American voters believe that democracy is under threat but it is not a priority.  Instead, their priorities are inflation, the overall economy and climate change.  There is a poll that says 81% of American voters say that the economy will have a major impact on their vote.  What!  Don’t these voters know that without our democracy their perspective on these things won’t matter because they will not have any meaningful input concerning them.  Don’t they realize that unless their perspective coincides with that of the autocrat and his chosen few, their thoughts and concerns will be tossed aside and completely disregarded?!

What are those Americans who have these concerns and place them above the threat to democracy going to tell their children and grandchildren should we lose our democracy and those children one day ask them, what did you do when America was faced with this threat?  Are they going to tell them that they were to busy with the concerns that the price of gas was way too high and that food at the supermarket was too high!  Every single voter needs to focus on their priorities as they relate to the 2022 midterm election and be absolutely sure that they are properly ranked.

If all of us do that, then we will have a much better chance of surviving this attack on our democracy by one of our two major political parties; the Republican Party.  So, get your priorities straight and be sure to turn out and 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, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line