When the Founding Fathers set up the American government, they put guarantees in the Constitution that no one branch would control the country. Now that the Supreme Court has inserted itself as co-conspirators with Republicans and Tea Party members in the House, America is a two branch system, the Constitution is no longer the law of the land, and the Koch Brothers have effectively become rulers in America.
Earlier this year, Representative Michele Bachmann (R-MN) invited U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to instruct Republican and Tea Party representatives in Congress about the Constitution as it pertains to legislating according to revisionist history and religious doctrine. It is disturbing because Scalia mirrors the Tea Party’s originalist view of the Constitution that favors corporatism and ignores the Establishment Clause that disallows favoritism for a certain religion, or the establishment of a national religion. There is no mention of god or the bible in the Constitution, but Bachmann and her ilk continue their drumbeat toward theocracy by repeatedly claiming the Founders were devout Christians and meant for America to follow their lead.
One of the first acts of the 112th Congress was to read the entire Constitution aloud. The problem with the Constitution the Republicans read was that it omitted parts that did not fit into the narrative the conservatives are promoting; that is where part of the danger lies. The revisionist American history the Tea Party and Republicans are selling does not represent the Founders intent when they wrote the Constitution. Scalia and his Tea Party partner Justice Clarence Thomas, earlier this month challenged the scope of the Commerce Clause to set the stage for doing the Tea Party’s bidding and overturning the Affordable Health Care Act.
Thomas’s wife, Ginny, was the leader of a Tea Party lobbying group that benefited from the Citizen’s United decision that gave corporations “person” status allowing them to donate as much money to campaigns as they like. The decision guarantees that corporations will control the government, and based on the increased corporatism Republicans are promoting, Scalia, Thomas, and other conservatives on the high court achieved their goal. Justice Thomas is being accused of not reporting income his wife earned between 2003 and 2007 from the Heritage Foundation. Heritage is an ultra-conservative think-tank that controls Republican policy and is associated with the Koch Brothers and their Cato Institute. The Koch’s have financed Tea Party efforts at stopping health care reform and global climate change initiatives. The Koch brothers are also supporters of Scalia and Thomas’s reinterpretation of the Constitution, and they hosted a secretive gathering of elite conservative industrialists that both justices attended.
Justices often attend and speak at events, but when two of them attend a secret conservative meeting and then vote according to the dogma preached at the event, there is cause for concern. There is more reason to be alarmed when one justice’s wife earns nearly $700,000 from the conservative think tanks, and the other justice begins teaching Republicans and Tea Party legislators the conservative reinterpretation of the Constitution so they can vote to give corporations more influence over the government. Although both men deserve to be impeached for conflict of interest and judicial malfeasance, it is Scalia who is the most dangerous to Americans; especially women.
Earlier this month, Scalia went on record in an interview saying that the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment does not apply to women. It is impossible to say where Scalia’s notion that women are not equal originates, but the most likely culprit is the bible. According to the Christian bible, women are subservient and are commanded to acquiesce to a man’s will at all times and in all matters. It is unclear if Scalia will teach Michele Bachmann and her Constitution class that Bachmann, according to the original intent of the Constitution and the bible, cannot vote, serve in Congress, or instruct men. The Founding Fathers made no provision for women to vote much less to hold political office. But that may be another omission from the new Republican version of the Constitution. Bachmann is fond of rewriting American history and constitutional law, so perhaps in her mind women wrote the Constitution and always had the right to vote and serve in Congress.
Constitutional history notwithstanding, there is a problem when Supreme Court justices attend a Koch Industries secret meeting and then teach Republican and Tea Party legislators how to pass laws that benefit corporations. The problem is amplified when one of the justice’s wife is funded by a conservative think tank and starts a Tea Party lobbying group to overturn existing legislation when it comes before the Supreme Court. It is no secret that conservatives’ prime directive is to “corporatize” the government and suppress women, minorities, and the middle class. At the Koch Industries secret meeting, one of the seminars dealt with enriching the wealthy and pacifying the poor with buzz-words and catch-phrases. There was no mention of a middle class at the conservative-minded Koch event; just the wealthy and the poor.
There is a judicial ethics problem for Scalia and Thomas, and only time will tell if either of the activist Justices will face an investigation. Chances are they will not because Republicans control the House and can stall or stymie any inquiries indefinitely. The bigger issue and threat is to the American people and the government itself. With Scalia teaching Republicans how to vote according to the Constitutional reinterpretation of extreme conservatives like the Koch Brothers funded Tea Party, it is a matter of time before all semblance of democratic rule is totally erased. In its place will be a corporatist government whose main task will be enriching corporations at the expense of the serfdom that was once the middle class.
Michele Bachmann’s role in the corporate takeover should not be diminished or trivialized even though she is being used and abused by the Koch Brothers; her stupidity is no excuse and she owns a share of the blame. Bachmann may as well invite the Koch Brothers to teach Republicans and Tea Party members how to vote according to the Koch-Scalia-Thomas interpretation of the Constitution. If it progresses to its logical conclusion, the Koch Brothers will be the Congress, or worse yet, the Koch-Constitution will allow the Supreme Court to appoint Koch Industries as ruler, just like they appointed George W. Bush as president in 2000.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 10:22 am
I am glad that I am not the only person thinks that all of this will end with corporate rule of the Congress. As far as I’m concerned, the constitution and religion are both being used to further corporate ownership of this country. There isn’t much anyone can say about Michelle Blackmon being used, it’s obvious she has little individual thought based on the things that she says.
Justice’s Scalia and Thomas both need to be investigated. The Supreme Court has turned into politically based branch of the government and that cannot happen. I have long been disappointed how supreme court justices are appointed on a political basis by how they will vote on certain issues. And it is difficult for me to believe that the entire republican party is going along with this. You would think that out of all of the elected representatives, at least a few of them would have some morals
Supreme Court justices cannot be allowed to take part in radical movements. It seems to me that here we have the very same thing the republicans cry about constantly. Radical judges
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Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Well said, Shiva. I agree completely.
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Reynardine
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 10:28 am
I cannot verify this, but evidently more than a few state legislatures have authorized calling a second Constitutional Convention, which could simply replace the whole document, and the number of those who have done so is approaching critical mass. For those interested in finding out whether the pauperization of the middle class is a deliberate policy, I direct you to the Ajay memo. If you want to know who the Koch brothers themselves are plugged into, look up the Council for National Policy and see who else is there.
Glenn Beck, by the way, is reported by Mediaite to have spent an entire segmant threatening to cut a domestic rabbit in half with a chain saw. He gloated over the fear and revulsion he assumed he was causing his audience. If this is as reported, he needs to be Baker Acted, or whatever the equivalent is, right away.
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Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
It’s true, Reynardine; there are two movements underway to call a second constitutional convention.
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Rmuse
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
So it’s true there are movements to change the Constitution? Great! It is so depressing that any group would “repeal and replace” the only guarantee Americans have of freedom and equality. That news doesn’t bode well for us. Let’s just hope reason prevails. I’m not feeling good about this at all.
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Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
Yes, there are two separate resolutions filed in the Indiana General Assembly seeking constitutional conventions (and other states show support for these measures or similar measures). This is from my local paper:
House Speaker Brian Bosma, Joint Resolution 9, the “Repeal Amendment” that would permit repeal of federal law or regulation “by adoption of a resolution by two-thirds of the legislatures of several states”
and,
Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle) Senate Joint Resolution 13, calling for a constitutional convention to propose an amendment related to federal fiscal management, the congressional legislative process, limiting the powers of the federal government and empowering state legislatures to repeal ‘all or certain acts of Congress and administrative regulations.’
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Reynardine
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I gather, Varangian gentleman, that you reside in Indiana, and your information on that legislature is most interesting. Those of us in other jurisdictions had best research what our own “public servants” are doing. For my part, I don’t think Charlie Crist would have signed off on such a thing (there’s a reason he was exiled from his party) but Rick Scott would, in a heartbeat. I suggest we each find out what we can and rendez-vous here in a couple of days.
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Thom Ayres
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
RE: “Repeal Amendment”
Let’s clarify a point here…
The process for ratifying the Repeal Amendment that is currently proposed, would fall under Article V of the constitution. It would NOT be a full-on constitutional convention.
It is the same process that has been used to used in previous amendments such as the 16th (income tax), 17th (popular election of U.S. senators) and 18th (prohibition).
There is NO danger/possibility of a “runaway convention.”
@Rmuse: The news DOES bode well. Think about it for a moment. If/when the Repeal Amendment is ratified, the various state legislatures can get together and repeal undesirable legislation (Patriot Act) passed by a lopsided federal government.
It’s another check-and-balance to system.
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Reynardine
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
This is something that should be researched and fully exposed, as it seems to be a stealth movement few have heard of. I’m not in a position (boondocks) to do it, but it must be done. At this moment, I am starting to regret I quietly faded away to the countryside to live with the chickens and the foxes. Kick-start it, one of ye who live in civilization, and I will carry on as I can.
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TomandLou
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 12:31 pm
It’s happening much faster then anticipated.I think it’s pretty obvious the country is becoming aware of the GOPs real intent. I’m far from being a political analyst but even I woke up early on because of my past affiliation with the fundamentalist movement.We are dealing with a cunning opponent .The scare tactics both religious and political have been in place for many years, they had me fooled 20 years ago or so.This Country is in big trouble.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Jan. 26th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I hope it gets more obvious cause part of the country just voted a bunch of these clowns in. Even xtians need to understand that religion is fine, religious rule is persecutionary
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Leah Burton
Jan. 27th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Excellent article! I am writing about this and the tie to Christian Dominionism in my book. They are all “Dominion-Seekers” as I call them; Corporatists-Religious Extremists- and Constitutionalists. Each has their own agenda for domination but they need each other to effect the disentegration of government services to open the door for greed and religious supremacy.
We are in a troubling time, but they are the minority and we really can stop this. Americans need to learn the definition of “theocracy” and exercise their right to vote at a bare minimum.
We no longer have the luxury of bickering about Party politics. It has come down to Freedom vs. Theocracy. Thank you for your article.
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