July6

 Good morning. Nice and sunny to start. Our high temperature today should reach into the mid 80°s this afternoon. Our neighbors only shot off a couple of fireworks last night so we did get a good sleep. The cats have calmed down but they still won't let us get out of sight.

I was a bit amused reading some of the comments in my e-mail this morning. One of the bloggers had something to say about doctors who have no legal experience commenting on the Supreme Court's immunity decision. One of the commentators wondered what would happen if a president did something claiming it within his role as president but the Court ruled against him. Would, could he ignore the ruling and what would happen if he did? I was amused because that situation has already happened long before our current court made their decision. Andrew Jackson pursued a policy of removing the Cherokee tribe from their territories in Georgia because white men wanted the rich land for new cotton plantations. The tribe sued and won all the way up to the Supreme Court. What did Jackson do? Shrugged and said they made their decision--let them enforce it. Cherokee removal continued and is today known as The Trail of Tears. 

I was amused by the ignorance of history displayed by the comment. Of course, the Trail of Tears is an episode, like many others, that contradicts the story most of us learn of the triumphant conquest of an empty land by heroic (white) American settlers. All too many are happy to continue forgetting such episodes.

I wasn't amused the Court's decision. It gives the lie to our famous boast of being a nation of laws not of men. The court system doesn't have an army or police force to enforce its decisions. They depend on voluntary compliance and, if that fails, to an armed force under the control of a separate arm of government. Over the last couple of years our faith that the courts are (mostly) fair, (mostly) respectful of precedent, and (mostly) free from either oligarchic or popular pressure.

The circus surrounding Joe Biden continues. Robert Reich has a good account of what is happening. Several things irritates me beyond simple irritation. First, how the Republicans have closed ranks around Trump who is everything Reich describes. I remember how the political pundits chewed over whether John Kennedy as a Catholic was acceptable to the voters who wondered if the Pope would be pulling his strings. I also remember how the political pundits wondered if a man who was a DIVORCED ACTOR MARRIED TO A DIVORCED ACTRESS could be considered a fit person to be President. Only one side is asking if Trump is morally, temperamentally, or in any other way fit to be President. Instead we have one of our elderly (three years between them) candidates under fire for being old. Only one being criticized for memory lapses, misstatements, gasping for words when talking though both have been plagued. But only one lies every time he opens his mouth (and it isn't Biden). 

Second, both men came through an established primary system and have garnered the majority of the delegates for their parties. Both parties have been criticized for aspects of the system that seems to have tipped the scales for and against various candidates, including the winners. But my point is that BIDEN and TRUMP won. The efforts to jettison Biden would basically negate ALL the votes cast in the primaries. Once upon a time we talked about political decisions being made in smoke-filled back rooms. Now, it is made in the glare of cameras on news/commentary shows and in social media. In neither of those scenarios do ordinary people have much of a say.

Third, the whole issue is WINNING at all cost. On both sides. Most of the Republicans who hold to ethical/moral values have either left the party, been forced out, or are keeping their heads down and mouths shut. If those who remain win, they are committed to shoving their vision of America down the throats of the rest of us--their "devotion" to individual rights or law/order be damned. Democrats are almost worse. Do they really have a better chance of winning with Biden or by replacing him? No way to know. But some are willing to sell their souls to win.