THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY’S AMY BARRETT, TRUMP, THE GOP, THE CONSTITUTION AND SCOTUS

 

 

The death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the feminist and liberal icon, less than two months prior to the 2020 election, provided a unique opportunity for President Trump and the Republicans to further their simple solution to their complex set of problems. The Trump and Republican dilemma in a nutshell is that the GOP is an ever increasing minority and in 2020 are behind in every possible poll and on the cusp of an electoral shut out state and country wide. The answer to date has been suppress the vote, declare the election rigged and argue that the Supreme Court will uphold their complaints. The overall objective however is to Make America Great Again via control of the third co - equal branch of government, the Judiciary which can declare their agenda constitutional. In this objective the tiny well funded Federalist Society plays a central role. 

THE GOP, SCOTUS, THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION AND THE FEDERALIST SOCIETY

There is also an immediate explanation to Trump’s behavior. One of his main platforms to his base has been that he would appoint conservative judges that would, among other agendas, reverse, Roe v Wade, the decision in favor of a woman’s right to choose and Obamacare and generally side with business against the individual. How could he be so sure his judges were ad idem? He would obtain the list of those that qualified from the Federalist Society. Trump has also repeatedly sprouted that although he will lose cases in the lower courts he can wait till it they reach the Supreme Court where he will “get a fair shake”.

Before continuing it is worthwhile to briefly review the American Constitutional situation. There are three co - equal branches, the Legislative which is divided into the Senate and House of Representatives, the Presidency and the Judiciary. In their desire to form the Republic the Founding Fathers weighted the power of the votes of the smaller states to give them a larger say than their numbers represented in order to get their buy in. In modern day terms that means that the Republicans have lost the popular vote in Presidential elections five out of the last seven times, control the Senate with fifteen million fewer votes and they have often with less of the electorate been able to win the House because they have gerrymandered the districts to their favor. Added to that they have practiced voter suppression tactics. However the chickens are finally coming home to roost. The American demographics are changing and the populations becoming more urban and suburban.

For the last few decades the Republicans have concentrated on the Judiciary generally and  Supreme Court of the United States of America, (SCOTUS), specifically, to fulfill their agenda. The preparation for this task was via various societies that have been provided with a ton of money from Republican donors. Previously the court although always more conservative than society followed would Martin Luther King called the “moral arc of history”. This they had achieved with Judges, including those appointed by Republican Presidents, to move more and more away from the conservative social agenda, favoring of business, executive power and the like. Thus it became unconstitutional to segregate schools, ban interracial marriages, for the President to be above the law, segregate facilities and discriminate against the LGBT community for example. Ironically the major changes took place under the leadership of Republican Chief Justices Burger and Warren. 

However the last six judges nominated by Republican Presidents were members of a tiny well funded organization called the Federalist Society with campaigns conducted on their behalf by the Judicial Crisis Network. Democratic Senator Whitehouse rather than question Amy Barrett used his half an hour to explain the tens of millions of dollars spent on installing the Federalists including her. The six Supreme Court Justices that are members of the Federalist Society are Clarence Thomas, (George Bush 41), Chief Justice Roberts and Samuel Alito, (George Bush 43), Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett, (Donald Trump). Chief Justice Roberts denies he was a member although he is listed as being in the leadership for a number of years. The Federalist Society was founded in 1982 and consists only of a minority of the legal fraternity who are conservative and libertarian. Politically it has been almost the sole arbiter of whether you past muster to be a Federal Judge in the last three Republican Presidencies particularly in the Trump regime.

Till the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg the split recently was five Federalists versus four Democrats. Chief Justice Roberts, fearful that his Court was being regarded as a rubber stamp for the narrow conservative base of the Republican Party has on the odd occasion been the casting vote for a five - four decision in favor of such matters as the preservation of Obamacare and more recently supporting the blocking of anti Choice legislation in a Southern State. He has attacked Trump for his shameless characterization of various courts and various judges being Obama or Bush Judges, being particularly sensitive about the fact that Trump expects the Supreme Court to deliver for him. 

But for the rest the current five Fedralists including Roberts have already delivered big time. Notably they allowed corporations to donate limitless money into political groups using the obtuse reasoning that corporations were individuals who were entitled to free speech and money was the equivalent of free speech. Then they have thrown out all the limits put on certain states on instituting voter restriction practices, allowed gerrymandering of districts and most recently stopped the census count at a time when a large number of poor, hispanic and African Americans have not as yet been counted. 

THE REASON FOR THE URGENCY OF “ORIGINALIST" BARRETT'’S APPOINTMENT

 Trump has unabashedly claimed that the indecent unprecedented urgency to rush the appointment of his nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett is he needs her to rule soon. The immediate issues are her support of the removal of Obamacare scheduled to be heard on November 10, to be on the Court when the fate of the DACA youth are decided and most important, the anticipated disputes he and the Republicans will have following their crushing defeat. She is also pro gun, anti abortion and even possibly anti contraception, pro business and an acolyte of the late Justice Scalia. She claims her philosophy is that of an originalist and was a member of the Federalist Society from 2005 to 2006 and 2014 - 2017. As a Federal Court Appeal Judge she received payment for six trips paid for by the latter. 

The originalist doctrine of interpreting the Constitution is that the latter must be understood in terms of the original meaning of the document at the time it was adopted in 1789. Barrett underlines it to have the meaning it had at the time the Founders ratified it.  She states that, “That meaning doesn’t change over time and it is not up to me to update it or infuse my policy views into it. “ 

THE FALLACIES IN THE ORIGINALISTS’ ARGUMENTS.

The very fact that no sooner had the Founders passed their Constitution which was apparently as sacrosanct as the tablets that Moses brought down from Mount Sinai they thought it wasn’t “up to date” and introduced ten amendments - known as the Bill of Rights. The very fact that they postulated amendments shows that their state of mind accepted that as time went by the Constitution needed to be added too. The procedure for the introduction and acceptance of Amendments was indeed included in the very Constitution the originalists are defending as written in stone again signifying that it could be subject to change.  

If one wants to hang on to the originalists’ very words that the meaning hasn’t changed over nearly three hundred years then the capable brilliant Amy Coney Barrett could never even have a vote let alone a seat in being an arbiter of the interpretation the Constitution. The latter initially only guaranteed rich white men the right to “the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness”. Nor did any of the 1787 version include the franchise for one of the most conservative Justices of them all Federalist member, African American Clarence Thomas. 

Oblivious to the Federalist Society, the three most revolutionary Amendments were introduced almost a hundred years later, the 13th, 14th and 15th, which inter alia abolished slavery, allowed for due process, equal protection under the law and the right to vote regardless of race or color. And in 1919, hooray and hallelujah, the women were granted suffrage by the nineteenth Amendment. In 1951 the President was limited to two terms. Finally in 1964 the Jim Crow crowd were denied their voter suppression by the constitutional amendment not permitting the denial of a vote based on a poll tax or any other tax. 

Now the originalists can argue that Amendments are part of the Constitution as the Founders wrote it but if they do they have to realize that by so doing they foresaw that situations could change and evolve. For example, there were no such objects as IPhones or the numbers of ballot boxes per county or AK 47’s in 1787. Nor just because organizations of twenty first century of white supremacy thugs call themselves militias could it be argued that they ware  “a well regulated militia being necessary for the security of the state”, as defined in the Second Amendment.  In fact that latter crowd that march into State Legislatures with guns have been defined as being part of the largest terror group in the country by the FBI. Nor could there have been anything further from the Founders’ minds that money equals free speech and that Sheldon Adelsohn can donate seventy five million dollars to Trump’s election campaign. How the libertarian originalists can rule that businesses are more important than individuals or their representatives or that a firm can dictate that their medical plan can deprive a woman of contraceptives makes Amy Coney Barrett’s claim that the justices rule on the original meaning of the Constitution and don’t make policy ludicrous.

The greatest distortion of the originalists’ interpretation of the  Constitution was illustrated in Bush v Gore. There the fact that States who constitutionally manage their own procedures on voting were ignored and the Florida’s Supreme Court decision for a recount of the voting was over ruled. The constitutional basis was the fourteenth amendment, under the rubric of equal protection under the law, which was introduced in 1868 to protect the rights of released slaves. The five - four opinion made it quite clear that the case could not be a precedent. It was a one off. Most vocal in this narrative was Amy Barrett’s originalist mentor Justice Scalia, “Who told critics, “To get over it”.

AT THE END OF THE DAY

No slick rationalizations and reinterpretations of her own words can remove the stain of Judge Barrett’s hypocrisy on the replacement of a Supreme Court Judge in an election year, She claimed that the replacement of Justice Scalia by middle of the road Merrick Garfield, ten months prior to the election date was unacceptable as it upset the philosophical balance of the court. Judge Barrett who is at kindest very conservative has accepted the nomination to replace the liberal and feminist icon Justice Ginsburg two weeks before final polling. 

While Article Three of the Constitution gives Congress the right to determine the shape and structure of the Judiciary it could never have been the intent to allow a small well oiled society to control the third branch of Government with a bunch of clones.

It is obvious that certain sections of the Republican Party believe this is the only way to hang onto white power and Make America Great Again. The very fact that this is their main order of business in the middle of a health and economic crisis is indicative that come hell or high water this is their priority. Trump has a more immediate stated objective, namely for the Court to rule in his favor in any possible election dispute. Senator Amy Klobuchar pointedly enquired of Judge Barrett whether she thought it was a coincidence that with her appointment there would now be three of the Bush legal team on the Supreme Court. Also the POTUS needs her to help dump the Obama Affordable Care Act that provides health care to tens of millions of people in this pandemic.

When the Democrats, having had two Supreme Court vacancies “stolen” from them by the hypocritical Republicans, load the Court with additional nominees they can argue that is what the constitution specifically allows them to do.

One would think under these circumstances there could just be four out of fifty -  three Republican Senators who have enough integrity to prevent this divisive and unprecedented nomination from going through. 

TRUMP - A RARE CASE OF COVID

In the week that seemed like a lifetime the only constant was the increasingly erratic behavior of the President. One way or another the President saw to it that he was the center of attention, oblivious that he was seventh millionth positive Covid case in the United States but certain that he was the most important of the thirty - six million on G-d’s earth. Having decided that three days of hospitalization was enough already he discharged himself from Walter Reed. Then following another costly helicopter ride, he, breathing heavily, announced to the world, from the balcony of the WhiteHouse in a style that would have made Mussolini proud, that Corona virus was a piece of cake and that the over two hundred thousand dead in America shouldn’t let it get the better of them. 

Then there was an eagerly waited debate between the Vice Presidential candidates which answered some very important questions but other than a fly on Pence’s head the encounter had to take a backseat to the POTUS who by his recurrent attention seeking absurdities just could not be ignored. With his last disastrous debate barely a week ago he sought to miss this one out because it was going to be virtual and they could turn his mike off. But there is a whole week for him to play the reluctant virgin on that one so watch this space. 

WAITING FOR TRUMP’S OCTOBER SURPRISES - SO FAR NONE BUT THERE WAS ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL COVID BREAKTHROUGH TREATMENT

Teflon Trump, who was expected to drop some October “Surprises” on Vice President Biden including revelations about his wicked son Hunter and crooked Hillary, has been rocked by a succession of bombshells that have knocked him senseless, putting him behind Biden in the polls by double digits with four weeks to go to the election. Short of money he is ranting and raving in and out of isolation from the WhiteHouse Bunker. His campaign and administration are in total disarray quarantining their good selves all as a result of self inflicted wounds resulting from Trump’s denial, criminality, incompetence, recklessness in the management of Covid. He has one arrow to his bow, the appointment of a Supreme Court Justice. McConnell agrees it is a priority in the Senate even though only twenty - four percent polled agreed. The rest saw the priority as creating another Covid relief package which the Head of the Federal Reserve Bank claimed was crucial for the future of the country. Trump created a storm when he withdrew his “team” from negotiations with Nancy Pelosi on a relief package so he quickly changed course within six hours. 

With his desire to be the main event, especially with the competition of the Vice Presidential Debate on the horizon, he then issued another rambling video where he claimed that his infection with Covid was a “Blessing from God”. He announced a new cure for the virus. He pronounced this with the same conviction that he had done with Hydroxychloroquine and bleach - Regeneron was the answer. Unsurprisingly he had a memory lapse that he had informed the world that he had already taken a course of the anti malarial medicine which he had previosly credited for him not contracting the disease.  Regeneron had cured him immediately which begged the question why his doctors had administered Remdesivir which is normally given later in the disease process to severe cases of Covid. The indication being for a victim who requires supplemental oxygen and or a ventilator. Remdesivir has shown promise in cutting the death rate of those severely ill patients from twenty - eight to twenty - three percent and for limiting the duration of hospitalization. As for his dexamethasone steroid administration it is contraindicated early on in the disease process  because it hampers the immune system. It is given much later when the body produces an overwhelming uncontrollable immune response which can result in death. So none of this makes medical sense. 

But one was not going to get answers from his medical team who wouldn’t even share when the "First Patient" had last tested negative for the virus. The team was led by a forty year old emergency physician whose chief qualification for the position was that he did whatever Trump told him to do. He accepted that he had lied about the president’s oxygen levels because he was not about to change the President’s upbeat narrative about Covid. Presumably the President like everyone else was not allowed to hear what he told Bob Woodward in February this year about the dangers of Covid. He offered no explanation for the reasons for administering of the medications and why and when. The lung studies the blood work all of a sudden were the subject of patient privacy and not national security or public health. 

If this election was a boxing fight the referee would stop the fight as Trump is punch drunk and is so far behind on points. A drug test that followed would show him high on steroids which give a feeling of well being. Those that are blaming his irrational behavior on steroids have dangerously short memories. This is all just par for course. Olivia Troye former Pence Homeland Security Advisor and chief representative on the Coronavirus task force who resigned out of disgust stating that Trump could have saved lives and working at the WhiteHouse was “terrifying” sees no difference of the Trump of then and the Trump of now. Trump’s behavior since the diagnosis has however illustrated that he is still nothing but a petulant verbal two year old that  is difficult to reason with. Incidentally it was Trump who suggested that the participants to the presidential debates be tested for performance enhancing drugs of which steroids are considered the number one culprit. Biden might follow up on that. Jay H. Ell is pretty sure that is the dexamethasone that is making him feel that “good” and good luck trying to get him off it.

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF COVID 19 IN PATIENT TRUMP TO A THIRD YEAR MEDICAL STUDENT

A third year medical student who might have been doing her clerkship at Walter Reed would have noted the circumstances under which the patent became ill. He had defied the simplest of preventive measures. She would note to her classmates that he is the leader of a highly influential cult that appears to believe that the pandemic was a “hoax”. To be a card carrying member of the group you have to show your man/womanhood by never wearing a mask in his presence and joining him at scoffing at those that do. Apparently the top brass of the group had gathered maskless at  what was turning out to be a super spreader event. 

Her note would continue - the patient was brought to the hospital by helicopter because he had drops in oxygen levels at this early stage of his illness. He was obese and seventy - four - bad prognostic indicators. He was very angry and kept mumbling that he was fine and wanted to go home. Soon a phalanx of doctors marched in and shooed her out, warning her to mention nothing about the incident and who had let her into the room in the first place? Her interest had been perked so she stood behind the door as the newly diagnosed victim of Covid gave orders to the doctor as to what treatment he wanted. She resolved to look "Regeneron" up as she had never heard of the drug. She startled as he yelled at the young doctor in charge, “Only you can speak to the media and keep it upbeat in sync with my messaging on Covid!”. She was beginning to get the message that this was not the place to be if she wanted to graduate peacefully. One thing was for sure was that he must be one important guy with a helluva great insurance - you had to be somebody to be put in the presidential suite. She would suddenly develop a new found interest in politics and take her nose out of her medical books when she learned that that the cult leader was the President of the United States.

THE VICE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE

The importance of the Vice Presidential debate was drowned out by the President’s tiresome need to be center stage and his awareness that his defeat was becoming more and more inevitable. The debate’s significance was whether or not Kamala Harris was acceptable to be the next President - the elephant in every room bearing in mind the age of Biden. Pence had a difficult enough job defending the impossible - Trump’s record but had behaved in an fashion that would once again allow parents to permit their children to watch the nightly news. The bar was not too high for him although under other circumstances his ignoring the moderator and interrupting Kamal albeit in a low key fashion would have evoked far more criticism. To sum up he has the same policy as Trump, a true believer, but he sells it in a far more civil tone. In fact his apparent normality has a chilling effect on Jay H. Ell.

Senator Harris for her part was a model of propriety. No way was she going to allow the narrative that she was a loudmouthed woman to come through. She navigated the smears that she was Rosa Luxemberg, with a touch of humor. She was forceful when she needed to be, spaced her refusals to be “lectured” by the Vice President, hammered home the advantages the team had on coronavirus, healthcare and the mismanagement of the economy.  

The Democratic nominee was rewarded for her display with ending up with far more favorables than Pence. There was a consensus that she had “won” the debate. What was startling in the CNN poll was that she led the Vice President by thirty percent of women and two percent of men. The Ipsos poll put her ahead in every parameter. This debate will not change the polling figures, they never do, but mission accomplished by Biden’s running mate and a sporting effort by Trump’s echoer in chief.

But the debate had barely ended before it was out of the news. 

TRUMP TAKES OVER

Trump was not to be denied the limelight for long calling into FoxNews the next morning lambasting Harris as a “monster” and a “communist”. He bemoaned the fact that Attorney General Barr had not yet arrested Barak Obama, Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton for spying on him in 2016. He then punted a new theory as to where he could have contracted Covid. He had held a small gathering for Gold Families the day after the jamboree for his new Supreme Court nominee. They all wanted to kiss and hug him and how could he say no? There is no way logistically that this theory is rational but who cares. In fact as the events evolve the irresistible inference is that the President himself could be the index patient for all these infections. Some of the Gold Star family members that attended his supposed "kiss in" are now voluntarily quarantining. 

The night before Trump’s Fox psychotic ramble was noteworthy where in another video he babbled on incoherently for five minutes on the wonders of Regeneron, the monoclonal antibody treatment that he had been administered. This would be available to everyone free. It was a cure as far as he was concerned - maybe he was immune now. He would order Regeneron and the similar drug made by Eli Lilly to be available to everyone, for free. Now there is a limited amount of this monoclonal antibody and the best hope is that is that there will be two hundred thousand doses available by the end of the year. It is unstable at normal temperatures and most important the FDA have not as yet registered for any use let alone regular use. 

Then the bipartisan Electoral Commission finally put their foot down - next week’s Presidential debate would be a virtual one. Trump immediately stated he would be no show because in that situation they could turn off his mike. He would hold a rally instead! The Commission reckoned that Trump and his entourage could get another super spreader going and stuck to their guns. Biden for his part said he would show but he would accept the ruling of the Commission. Trump put in a counter offer that debates two and three be held a week later and that is where the matter stands at this point in time.

As far as Jay H. Ell is concerned this nightmare is drawing to a close but it is going to become uglier and uglier.  

OTHERWISE HOW DID AMERICA ENJOY THE REST OF THE WEEK 

The Biden coalition increases daily. In addition to seven Bush cabinet members and five hundred generals the supporting video of the highly respected General Michael Hayden, former head of the National Security Agency could have a profound impact on any Republican waverer. Hayden a life long Republican warned of the dangers of four more years of Trump. He added that Biden was a “good man” although he disagreed with many of his policies. 

Mitch McConnell, Republican Majority Leader in the Senate, enabler in chief outside of the WhiteHouse and that is where he wants to remain. He stated that he has not been near the WhiteHouse for months because their Covid precautionary practices don’t coincide with his. McConnell went even further adding that the Trump administration was paying for their lax practices. 

The four heads of Intelligence and Security gave an unprecedented warning that there was foreign interference in the election and the voters have to be aware. The message was to stay calm. They also cautioned that the result of the election might not be evident on November 3, but the process is reliable.

The FBI Head had warned that the largest internal threat was the white supremacists. Trump, who disagrees with the Head, tweeted among other dog whistles to the racists the white supremacist cry “Liberate Michigan”. He also has continually attacked Governor Whitmer of Michigan who has criticized Trump’s support of gun carrying supremacists in Michigan. This week the FBI and the Michigan State police arrested thirteen individuals who were plotting to kidnap and assassinate Governor Whitmer. Trump’s response was to criticize Governor Whitmer who had attacked him for his “support” of these terrorists. He countered that it was his  law enforcement that had saved ungrateful Whitmer,

Trump’s doctor announced that he would clear him for rallies on October 10, 10 days after the announcement of his diagnosis. The medical consensus and CDC recommendation is that quarantine should be twenty days. Trump’s new line is that Corona virus is a minor irritation and he can prove it. 

He is using the smear that Biden, Obama and Clinton spied on him and should be indicted by Barr as a big fund raiser. 

Trump as expected is now ready to negotiate a rescue package on Covid agreeing to nearly two trillion dollars. McConnell and the Republicans in the Senate have as their priority the confirmation of the new Supreme Court Justice. Yet another sign that McConnell is beginning to distance himself more and more from the President to give him any chance of retaining the Senate. 

TRUMP BOMBS AS THE ENABLERS HANG IN

While the news that the POTUS and the FLOTUS have tested positive for COVID 19 has dominated the media, the political landscape remains the same, other than that the Proud Boys are all wearing their "stand by" T shirts not convinced by Trump's belated condemnation of white supremacy. The bubble that the omnipotent Trump thought he had put himself in was unsurprisingly penetrated by his contrary behavior against the mitigation advice advocated by his real health care professionals.

The first debate left everyone except Trump speechless. With less than five weeks left and voting already in progress in some states there is no way he can make up the yawning growing deficit in the polls he has with Biden. This was his moment. Debates are Biden’s weakness as witnessed in the Democratic Primary. While the latter’s performance was far from stellar he just needed to provide the contrast with a raving, obnoxious, chaotic, muddled, incoherent, racist President whose only contributions to the evening were to appeal to the white supremacists to “stand by”, declare the election invalid, praise his unbelievable response to the Covid crisis, reassure his base that his Supreme Court will award him the Presidency and smear the Bidens. The bizarre display he generated was the primary cause of the total dysfunction of the debate, according to the moderator. Besides the hole he has dug for himself he has put the Republicans down ballot in an ever bigger quandary - how do they distance themselves from this wrecking ball?

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES HAVE NO PLACE TO GO

In the words of MacBeth, “I am in blood steeped so far should I wade no more returning would be as tedious as to go o’er”, the GOP legislators and their National Committee have rendered themselves powerless to save themselves from the plight their perfidy has placed them in. They are so overwhelmed by their four year capitulation, hypocrisy and abandonment of principles that even Trump’s inexplicable bad debate performance brought forth very limited response from the Republican side of the aisle. What mixed reaction there was just served to emphasize their impotence - Rick Santorum, the former Republican Governor who somehow always finds a positive spin on the Trump mumbo jumbo, stated if he was a Republican candidate he would be very unhappy at Trump’s performance while Peter Navarro Trump’s WhiteHouse advisor echoed the social media mantra that the Fox News mediator was biased in favor of Biden. The best a few senators could do was mumble that they were against white supremacy - without a doubt the lingering catastrophe of the evening. 

The Republican Party’s official policy is the cult worship of Trump. Their sole election platform policy is to support Trump. Trump has one guiding policy - to get reelected, regardless of morality or legality. 

TRUMP’S COMMAND PERFORMANCE

As counterproductive as the disgraceful display put on by Trump, he was not winging it - he just overdid his “plan” - try and unsettle Biden, drive a wedge between him and the Progressive wing of the Democratic Party which was part of the successful ploy of the Russian disinformation plan that helped Trump win in 2016, smear Hunter Biden, drown whatever message Biden was trying to deliver and show strength. He also let everyone know that the election would be rigged and that he was going to the Supreme Court to challenge it! This was a naked display of totalitarianism. He underlined what he had openly declared previously that he expected his new nominee to the Supreme Court to support his claims.  He also tried to inject fear into the Biden electorate calling for vigilantes to monitor the polls while in the same breath failing to condemn white supremacists who saw his statement as a call to arms. There was no attempt to increase his shrunken base. Rather it was all about ensuring that the forty percent hang in and voter suppresion and the Supreme Court can do the rest. 

The central issue for Biden, healthcare, which he linked to the catastrophic management of the Covid pandemic, was not countered to any extent by Trump. Trump fared badly on this key issue which at the end the day is front and central to the voters.  It also allowed the former Vice President to once again link the appointment of Justice Barrett to the “plot”. She has authored an article attacking the constitutionality of the Obama program. Chris Wallace persisted on hearing about Trump’s healthcare replacement plan that supposedly has been forthcoming for four years. He made it quite clear to the President that his executive order to instruct Insurance Companies not to eliminate patients on the basis of pre existing conditions was merely “symbolic”. As Trump blustered on Jay H. Ell could imagine the GOP candidates wincing in frustration. He also gave the opening to the Democratic challenger to outline his plan which did not "take away" a hundred and eighty million Americans’ rights to private health care as the POTUS had maintained.  

Where the POTUS succeeded was that only some of Biden’s message got through and to some his authoritarian behavior was equated with strength. For the rest it was a disaster and what polls there were showed that he did not make up any further ground and the Republican white women who switched in 2018 were just further revolted. If anything this banana republic like behavior persuaded more undecided voters to go Biden’s way. The CBS as well as the CNN polls showed Biden winning by ten percentage points. The impact on the undecideds will only be fully known once post debate polls become available. According to the authoritative Five Thirty Eight editor the initial Presidential debate moves the numbers in favor of the winner.  Finally, for Trump’s troubles the Electoral Commission have resolved to change the rules for the remaining encounters, including the moderator being able to switch off microphones. 

NO LIGHT ON THE HORIZON

There are roughly five weeks left before the election. The voters have yet to get an exposure to Kamala Harris who debates Mike Pence in the Vice Presidential debate next week. She has been painted as Katrina Marx who Biden is going to hand over the Presidency in short order. She is the sharpest tool in the Senate shed. She will be on display in the hearings on Justice Barnett who is being hailed as the female messiah. It is being mooted in the Senate Democratic Caucus that members of the Judiciary Committee should yield their questioning time to the Vice Presidential candidate. 

It bears mentioning that Justice Barnett’s opinion on whether a Judge should be appointed in election year has changed. She argued in favor of McConnell’s failure to allow Obama’s replacement of Justice Scalia ten months before the election date in 2016. The basis of her rationale was that it would change the political representation of the court. Presumably her response now will be that she is the ideal candidate to be head of the liberal wing of the court!

Incidentally Judge Amy Barrett was on the legal team that represented George W. Bush against Al Gore in his case against a recount of Florida vote. Her mentor Anton Scalia when faced with the criticism that enveloped the controversial decision to interfere with the State’s right to control voting in their jurisdiction told critics, “To get over it”. The five to four court outcome stopped the recount while it was taking place. Presumably this is whyTrump and McConnell are in such a hurry to get her ratified. 

Now that the revelations that Hillary was behind the story that Russia interfered with the 2016 election and Hunter Biden is a crook like his father have fizzled what October surprises has Trump still got up his sleeve?  It is more likely that the New York Times exposes on his financial records will put him under more and more pressure. Maybe they know who his creditors are for the four hundred and fifty one million dollar loans that are due or who signed as security? 

Trump's intent for his part was for holding rallies which are petrie dish for the spreading of the virus. His plans for meetings in Wisconsin where there has been a massive uptick in cases is the venue for two jamboree events have not been officially cancelled. The hospitals in the area are ninety - four percent full. He has been asked by the authorities to call the rallies off but as in other instances ignored the pleas. “People can decide whether to come or not and whether to wear masks”, his Press Secretary confirmed. Trump has been unaware that leaders have responsibility. Perhaps he is giving the whole matter a rethink.

WHO IS CULPABLE OF COMPLICITY.

History has long debated what represents culpability and the list with Trump is endless. Those that bear the brunt of the burden of blame are his administration but even more important the Republican legislators who took an oath which included oversight of the President. To date they have failed miserably. This includes the State legislators whose attempts to suppress the vote as illustrated by the Texas Governor and the Pennsylvania legislature are a disgrace.

The question remains is how the Republican candidates are going to respond in the five weeks remaining as more and more constituencies and states become marginal? Rather than Minnesota swinging to Trump, South Carolina, Alaska, Iowa and Georgia are becoming competitive.  Don’t hold your breath because their knee jerk reaction to support is baked in as their past obsequious behavior has exhibited. Some are just trying to focus on local issues but that cannot last in this environment. 

The irony is those that have taken him on are the civil servants many who have paid for their efforts with retaliation and curtailment of their careers. There is that band of former Republican operatives and pundits that have not only been vocal they have formed Political Action Committees to take him on. But for the rest that have either gone along for the ride or just shrugged their shoulders and done nothing, they need reminding of Edmund Burke’s wisdom, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

Then the media who have protection that is unparalleled in any other country have done what they have done since time immemorial produced exposure after exposure. Maybe the Constitution with the First Amendment which enshrines free speech has provided the ultimate “check and balance” for the control of a mad king. 

AT THE END OF THE DAY

The Biden/Harris argument that everyone should stop worrying about Trump’s back up plan to remain in office and vote is valid. If Biden has a landslide the question of whether five ballots with Trump's name on it are found in a dumpster on November 4, is not material. Bush was five hundred votes ahead nearly a month after the election. The Supreme Court’s credibility is at stake and they will not without some solid legal justification intervene. However for those still worried, and G-d knows there are many, according to John Dean of Watergate fame, the Biden camp have a powerful legal team in place that are well ahead of the game. 

To anyone with any oversea contact there is the reinforcement of the realization that America with its power and its former commitment to liberal democracy has an influence on the world which makes the outcome of this era of history in the Age of Covid even more far - reaching. 

As for Trump he believes his debate was a devastating victory and his advisors don’t know how to break the news that it is not just the “Fake News” that is reporting the reality. 

All that is left for the Trump and his Republican Party is voter suppression.