This is what came to mind for me when the ruling of Trump versus Colorado on whether Trump could remain on the Colorado Ballot came down on March 4, 2024.  Just like each time that Donald Trump has gotten away with thumbing his nose at the American people and every American institution in the land he has become bolder, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has decided to emulate him.  They have watched Trump and the Trump-led Republican congress say the quiet things out loud and make a mockery of justice and get away with it so they, too, have decided to say the quiet things out loud.  They too have decided to thumb their nose at the American people and, at least, the other courts that constitute the judicial system; after all, these courts are not “supreme.”

How did I come to this conclusion?  Well, first, let’s start with the definition of supreme.  According to Merriam-Webster, supreme means highest in rank or authority.  Especially: in a position of unquestioned authority, dominance, or influence.  The SCOTUS certainly seems to believe that they fit this definition by virtue of their behavior lately.  After all, they agree that all courts in America should have and abide by a code of ethics; that is, all courts except the Supreme Court.  This must be the case because the Supreme Court certainly does not lead by example.  They have refused to have and abide by a code of ethics: at least one that has meaningful rules and a way to enforce them.

Instead, the SCOTUS has decided that it can police itself and they leave this policing up to each member to do for himself/herself.  Each can decide when he/she is being unethical or if something that he/she is doing or has done has the appearance of being unethical.  Surely, he/she can and will determine this and handle it properly.  Surely, he/she can and will determine whether he/she should recuse, and will recuse when he/she should.  There is no question that he/she will handle these things correctly anytime they arise; after all, these court justices are “supreme.”  Since other courts in the land cannot legitimately claim this title, that is why they need a code of ethics, right?  This includes state supreme courts because they are not the “ultimate supreme” like the SCOTUS is, right?

If this sounds ridiculous, it is because it is ridiculous.  Justices in the John Roberts court have done and continue to do so many unethical things or things that appear to be unethical that it has dragged the SCOTUS to the lowest level of public confidence in it in the history of the SCOTUS.  I cannot think of any reason why Chief Justice John Roberts is not super concerned about this.  And if he is, he certainly is not expressing that concern publicly.  Perhaps he just feels strongly that the SCOTUS dirty laundry should not be aired publicly and he is extremely good at hiding his super concern.  Because he sided with five other justices, all of whom are a part of the conservative supermajority, in going further than the SCOTUS was required to go in the March 4, 2024 Colorado versus Trump ruling, it appears that he and the rest of the supermajority did it to help Trump.  And when other rulings that the SCOTUS has made or, not made, are considered, it makes things look even more like they are putting their thump on the scale for Trump.

A key part of the rationale that the SCOTUS used in ruling against the Colorado Supreme Court involved this question that they put to themselves: Why should one state decide who should be the president?  This is a reasonable question.  The question that the SCOTUS did not ask, which is just as reasonable for the American people to ask is, why should six politicians in black robes decide who should be the president?  A reasonable answer cannot be that we did it in Bush v Gore.  As an aside I might add, they did it very quickly.  And that is not the case with the SCOTUS review of the Trump request for total presidential immunity to defend himself against the four cases and 91 counts that he has been charged with since he left office.  This request for review by the SCOTUS and the Colorado versus Trump case it ruled on March 4, 2024 came at nearly the same time.  That just adds more questions as regards the behavior and questionable rulings of the SCOTUS and further implies that they, like Trump, are thumbing their nose at the American people and American institutions.

As an optimist, I would like to believe that I am being overly cynical but as a realist, I do not believe that is the case.  Perhaps there was a time when the courts, especially the SCOTUS, were apolitical, at least they talked a good game and made a real effort to appear to be so, but times have changed.  They are now saying the quiet things out loud.  Trump makes no effort to hide that he is pressing judges, including the justices of the SCOTUS, to rule in his favor because they owe him.  He is not shy about letting them know that he got them appointed.  And he is calling upon them to be loyal and answer his call.  Unfortunately, too many of those that he is calling on and requesting loyalty from are, or at least appear to be, answering his call.

With polls showing that President Biden and Trump, even with the 4 charges and 91 counts that he is faced with, are running in a virtual tie, it is hard to be certain which direction America is headed in.  If those Americans who are addicted to Trump’s lies and hooked on political soundbites do not somehow come to their senses, educate themselves on the issues, focus, and realize that the American democracy is at stake and will be on the ballot in November this year, all of us could be in deep trouble.  We can take positive steps to mitigate the damage that has already been done and continues to be done by Trump and all the politicians like him; including those in the SCOTUS.  But we can only do it if me make sure that neither Trump nor any of his sycophants are elected president.

As I have said many times before, I disagree with almost all of Liz Cheney’s politics.  However, she is the only Republican that has proven that she has principles and will abide by them at all costs.  That means that she can be trusted and that when she gives her word on something, she can be counted on to keep it.  At this point, she is the only Republican that can be trusted by the American people.  No other Republican, perhaps apart from Adam Kinzinger can be looked upon with this same trust and confidence, including Nikki Haley.

This means that Liz Cheney is a reasonable person with whom Democrats can hold meaningful discourse and that can be reasonably negotiated with.  Under these current and messy evolving circumstances, if Democrats in the final stretch, to save democracy, find themselves in an impossible situation where the options are infinitesimal and it is virtually certain that their nominee cannot win, they can confidently seek input from Liz Cheney as to whether Nikki Haley, barring any other possible choice, would be a candidate worthy of Democratic voters’ support.  Of course, the best option would be Liz Cheney herself.  But Nikki Haley would likely be better than Trump.  Almost anybody would be better than Trump.  I say “almost anybody” because if the other choice thinks like Trump, it would be a hard choice between going with that person or the devil you know.

This might seem like an impossible scenario that would be all but impossible to occur, but if it did, Liz Cheney would be America’s best option lifeline to retaining our democracy.  The other two choices, who knows?  Regardless, no one is coming to rescue us so it is on American voters now to save the American democracy.

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

“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive and unrealistic.  Belief in myths allows for the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”

Why do the US courts, including the US Supreme Court, pretend to be apolitical?  There has always been loads of pomp and circumstance and piousness associated with this long accepted idea that they are above the political fray.  Its incumbents are quick to espouse this line of thought and cloak themselves in the protective shield of this apolitical robe when it comes to these powerful organizations that have the ability to exercise so much control over us.  Do they cloak themselves in this shield because they recognize their tremendous power and feel that it is necessary to tamp down the realization by us of that almost unfettered power that they have to interpret the law and then determine – if any among us should perchance become defendants’, what our fate will be?

The great majority of these judges and justices likely do recognize and accept the great power that they wield and also accept and faithfully exercise the great responsibility which comes along with it that they have.  They likely painstakingly do the absolute best that they can to interpret the law simply based on the law and not as they might be expected to do based on loyalty to party or anything else.  But there is also that minority that we as Americans must contend with.  Americans must closely monitor that minority, which appears to be rapidly becoming larger under a corrupt Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and whose rapid growth is being aided by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, to assure that even if they intend to base their decisions on something other than the law Americans will fight to assure they are not successful.  These judges and there questionable reputations have to be an embarrassment to the courts and their presence must create anger and resentment of them by their colleagues because of the damage that they do to the courts’ reputation.

There was a time when I always felt a warm and patriotic feeling when the President of the United States of America – no matter their party affiliation, a Supreme Court Justice or the body of Justices as a whole spoke concerning any given issue simply because of what they represent in America.  Unfortunately, I no longer automatically experience that same feeling.  I have to work hard to allow myself to feel it and not become a cynic.  I have to work hard to focus on the fact that what is happening in our country now is not who we really are as Americans and does not depict a true picture of America.  In light of the way that the Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America has gone about nominating and appointing Supreme Court Justices through corrupting the process, the previously mentioned warm and patriotic feeling about the current Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and the Supreme Court is hard to sustain.  It is painfully obvious that Mr. Trump is not alone in the corrupting and misuse of this process.  He is strongly supported by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the senate Republicans.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell became angry because Joe Scarborough of the cable news show Morning Joe referred to him as Moscow Mitch.  But perhaps that nickname is well-earned.  Majority Leader McConnell is well aware that Russia interfered in our 2016 election to help Mr. Trump yet-and-still, likely at the behest of Mr. Trump, he has regularly blocked bipartisan legislation to better protect our election system prior to the 2020 election.  He has done this in addition to helping Mr. Trump to stack the courts with judges.  All of these judges are called conservative judges by the media.  However, most of them could more appropriately be referred to as “Trump Judges” because even many conservative Republicans have said that they do not represent true conservative values.

But the Republican Party is no longer the Republican Party that it was; it is the Party of Trump.  And even those Republicans who have the power to mitigate the amount of damage that Mr. Trump is doing to America refuse to take a stand and speak truth to power.  They have all become cowards cowering in any dark place that they can find to avoid this apex predator the Mr. Donald J. Trump of the United States of America.  To echo the words of presidential candidate Ms. Kamala Harris, predators are cowards that prey on the weak and helpless.  As for the US congress, its floor is prime hunting grounds for Mr. Trump.  It is no wonder that he is so plump and happy.

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

I had a long talk with a dear and good old friend over lunch yesterday and I thoroughly enjoyed him and our conversation.  When I say old I mean old as in long time and not age.  Although he might be a little old as in age too, that is not the point of this article and if ever talked about at all, it will be better if saved for another time and some other article.  If you know him, don’t tell him that I mentioned that he might be old because he might take offense.  It’s not likely that he would because he is a pretty easygoing guy; But he might.

Oh, that’s right.  You couldn’t tell him what I said even if you wanted to because I haven’t told you his name.  Well, his name is Burton NMN NLN.  NMN meaning no middle name and NLN meaning no last name; at least, neither of which that I am willing to share with you in this article.  But still, just in case that you might know him, don’t tell him that I said that he might be a little old.

Anyway, it had been a really long time since I had seen Burt until I attended a couple of the reunions that are held every two years for our particular close-knit group.  I saw him at the first reunion that I attended and I also saw him at this most recent one.  He was back in Denver again about a week after the second reunion and that is when, by pure coincidence, I saw him again.  That is when we had lunch together.  I told him that we could eat anywhere that he would like to eat and that it would be my treat.  I had forgotten that he was a vegetarian.  He took me to this vegetarian restaurant in South Denver and he had what amounted to a vegetarian club sandwich combo and lavender lemonade.

Since he is a vegetarian and I am not and he had obviously had this sandwich and the lavender lemonade before and I had no idea what it would taste like, let alone what anything else on the menu would taste like, guess what I ordered?  I ordered a vegetarian club sandwich combo and lavender lemonade.  Did you guess right?  I told him that I didn’t really like that vegetarian stuff that we had but the way that he was looking at my plate and how well I had cleaned it (it was much cleaner than his), I finally had to break down and tell him the truth; it was really pretty good.

I don’t know if it was our friendship and the warm and casual conversation that we had as we were catching up on things and the people that we mutually know that made the food so good but it was good.  My friend’s wife, who is a wonderful woman and his college sweetheart, whom he has been married to for xx years is a perfect match for him.  She is definitely his soul mate.  I have no doubt that she has a lot to do with him being the man that he is now; for most of us and most of the time our wife or significant other does. But before I move on, perhaps I should be clear about the ‘xx’ years I mentioned.  Although I don’t think that many people would assume that I mean 20 years, I want to categorically state that that is not what I mean.  ‘XX’ simply means that I am not going to reveal the exact number of years that they have been married.  Again, he is an easygoing guy and likely wouldn’t mind but…

We did not talk much about politics but we did talk about it.  So here we are again where readers of this post might ask, well if you didn’t talk about politics and this blog is supposed to be a political blog, why is this article in here?  Well, with the things that are going on in government right now, especially at the federal level, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, you are likely completely exhausted and need a breather.  Besides, if you read this blog regularly, you know that I have strayed from ‘strictly politics’ before and written about things like sports and country music.  So, this article is a little bit about politics and a lot about things that make you smile…and laugh.  My good friend Burt made me smile and laugh…a lot.  And that was refreshing, healthy, and good for the soul.  So in light of the chaotic political situation in Washington right now, especially in the White House, we all could use a little bit of that right about now, don’t you think?

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

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Microsoft (MSFT) says it plans to retire its storied—and often maligned—Internet Explorer brand in favor of a new Web browser under a different name.

via What Microsoft needs to do after Internet Explorer.

Young techie geeks – and most young people, likely were aware of the information provided in the link above long before this post.  But there are bound to be more vintage folks who read this blog as well who are not yet aware of it.

Since the purpose of this blog is to keep all readers informed, they need to stay informed too; therefore, I decided to go ahead and provide a link to the article.  So if you already are aware of this information, please bear with me.  If you are not already aware of it; click the link immediately above and catch up by reading the full CNBC article by Althea Chang.

With each passing season, another wave of mobile devices is released that’s more capable and more powerful than the generation preceding it.

via In Less Than Two Years, a Smartphone Could Be Your Only Computer.

To read the full article in Wired, click on the link immediately above.

The new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll offers the first national snapshot of Americans’ attitudes in the wake of the 2014 midterms, and those hoping to gain clarity from the data are likely to be disappointed.

via NBC poll: Public attitudes clear as mud | MSNBC.

Click the title immediately above to read the article in MSNBC.

ust a year ago, President Obama was among those who doubted he had the power to halt deportations of millions of immigrants living in the country illegally.

via President Obama’s immigration plans hard to block, legal experts say – LA Times#page=1.

Click on the title immediately above to read the article in the LA Times