Category: Politics

Good Evening. I’m Elissa Slotkin. I’m a Democratic Senator representing the great state of Michigan. And I’m giving the Democratic Party response to Donald Trump’s address to the joint Congress. It is a tradition in America that when the President speaks to the Congress on the state of our union, the opposition party sends a person to deliver a response. And as is also tradition in both parties, that person is someone you’ve probably never even heard of.

But that’s okay. Because I’m just like you. I think I’m just like the millions of people who since January 20, get up every day and ask, “What fresh hell has that fucking moron inflicted on the planet today?”

And I venture to say that now includes a lot of people who voted for Trump. I’ve seen the social media posts from people who voted for Trump but lost their government jobs because of Elon Musk’s haphazard firings. I’ve seen the town halls where people in districts that voted for Trump by double digits are asking their Republican Congressmen why they don’t stand up to Trump and Musk and why they should treat Trump like our king.

We were promised that if we elected Trump, the price of eggs would go down. Instead, it has skyrocketed due to bird flu, something that the Trump Administration hasn’t done anything about because of the hands-off policies of its bureaucrats. Those who still have jobs.

Tonight, Mr. Trump took credit for everything he could possibly imagine, but what he didn’t tell you is that just this Tuesday, the stock market crashed by over 500 points because his broad-based tariffs came into effect against countries including China, Mexico and Canada. And because of his belligerent posture towards Canada in particular, and his betrayal of Ukraine, Canada and other NATO countries are asking themselves if they should work together without the United States.

It’s almost as if Elon Musk and Donald Trump were hired by a hostile government to destroy our international alliances and economic infrastructure so that China and Russia could divide up the world.

And when I say that, I know what some of you are thinking. “Democrat hoax”, “witch hunt”, “no colusion”, “RussiaRussiaRussia” – I’ve heard it all before. And you have too.

I’m not telling you that Vladmir Putin has blackmailed Trump. I can’t tell you that Putin has bribed Trump. But you need to ask yourself a serious question: If Donald Trump WERE a known Russian agent, would he be doing anything differently?

Would he not be trying to normalize relations with Putin? Would he not be trying to start trade deals with Russia, to break the sanctions regime that is even now crippling Putin’s ability to wage war on the innocent? Would he not be agreeing with Putin’s demand that peace negotiations occur without Ukraine, or the EU, and that Ukraine must agree to a new election to remove Volodomyr Zelenskyy before a final peace deal is signed? Would we be agreeing to lower our defenses to Russia? This week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that we would no longer engage in cyberoperations against the Russian Federation. I would like to ask Mr. Hegseth a question: Did we ask our new buddies in Moscow if they would return the favor?

Would we be giving that treatment to any other nation, including our allies? Would we be giving so much deference towards any Democratic president, or indeed, any other Republican?

That’s why I’m here to represent the Democratic Party. Because it’s our job to represent the voters of this country, to defend working people, not billionaires and oligarchs. To defend our rights under the Constitution, not treat the president like a divine monarch.

Or not. I mean, I can only speak for myself. Because I don’t know what the national Democratic Party leadership has planned to deal with all of this leading up to the next election. I don’t think they do either. I mean, if the party knew how to get its collective thumb out of its collective ass last year, we wouldn’t be in this mess now, would we?

At least when it became obvious that our president was too old to handle the job, we got a replacement candidate. Trump is only three years younger than Joe Biden but acts older. Maybe that’s why he’s got Elon as his handler.

We didn’t really have much of a plan for the economy, or Ukraine, other than to keep doing what we were doing, which nobody liked. But still, in 2024, Joe Biden’s America, we reached a historically low unemployment rate. Gross domestic product expanded over 3 percent. Since Joe Biden took office, overall employment is up 12%, average pay is up 19%. Your Social Security was safe. Your Medicare was safe. And America was respected throughout the world as a strong defender of freedom.

Admit it… doesn’t that sound so much nicer than what we’ve got right now?

So, in less than two years, America is going to have a congressional midterm election. And if you’ve decided by then that you’ve had too much winning, remember, the Democrats are here for you. Or, Trump could suspend all elections and have us deported to Guantanamo. But hey, I hear Cuba has free health care.

Thank You, and God Bless America.

Most of the remaining Constitution can stand as is, although I want to do some analysis.

Article IV

Section 1

Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.

Section 2

The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.

A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.

No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.

Section 3

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.

Section 4

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.

Article V

The original text: The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.

Now, given that this article exists, it raises the question of why my project is even necessary. Well, the fact that we have never had a Constitutional Convention called by the states since original passage, that most Amendments were passed through the Congress or being ratified separately by states, and that the 27^th Amendment was the last one enacted (in 1992) but actually proposed in 1789, indicates that while it is supposed to be hard to change the foundational law of the government, the process in practice is prohibitively difficult.

But again, my proposal at this moment is just that, at the proposal stage. It could still be used in an actual constitutional convention, and parts could be ratified by states. There is nothing I propose that would stand against Article V, given that its only real prohibition is against changing “equal Suffrage in the Senate” (two Senators per State) and that remains the case in my Article II.

Article VI

Original text: All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.

The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

This first paragraph would be modified as “all debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution shall be as valid against the United States as under the prior Constitution.”

The second paragraph is similar to my Article I section 17, “The laws of each State, and their State Constitutions, remain in effect upon ratifying this Constitution, except insofar as they are contradicted by it.” It is still specific enough to stand as necessary.

I would also add the text of Section 4 of the 14^th Amendment, “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.”

Article VII

The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.

---

There we go. Again, it is presumptuous of me to think I can solve the problems with our Constitution in just this one project, but this is both a first draft and a starting point for debate. Because such radical changes might have been unthinkable to a lot of people, but the need for debate becomes more necessary by the day, and the need for change is coming sooner than most of us would want.

Because in my next post I will have to leave the realm of speculation and return to the here and now, where our political situation has been getting worse by the day.

In this post I will go over the judicial branch of the Constitution, which is still Article III. It is mostly unchanged. Mostly.

Article III

Section One

The judicial power of the United States is established in the federal judiciary of the United States, at this time consisting of ninety four federal judicial districts, under thirteen judicial circuits, administered by a Supreme Court. The Supreme Court shall number thirteen Justices who will each administer one of the Judicial Circuits. The Congress may at its discretion create new inferior courts and judicial circuits, but must appoint one new Supreme Court Justice to administer each Judicial Circuit.

Section Two

No federal Judge, including a member of the Supreme Court, shall serve if they are not licensed to practice law in at least one State, and shall not serve if they are not at least thirty years of age and a United States citizen for at least ten years. No federal Judge, including a member of the Supreme Court, shall serve past the age of seventy-five and upon reaching such age shall retire and the Congress shall appoint a replacement. Federal judges, including members of the Supreme Court, are each appointed to one fifteen-year term, limited only in cases of death, retirement or exceeding the age limit.

The Judges of both the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.

The Congress may at its discretion create rules of Ethics for the judiciary to follow, all such rules binding on inferior courts shall also be binding on the Supreme Court.

Section Three

The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State,—between Citizens of different States,—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.

The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.

Section Four

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.

NOTES

As you see, most of this is taken from the original text, except for the first two sections. The current set of courts is detailed, indicating that the new Constitution is meant to apply to the current government and supersede current law as necessary. The Supreme Court is expanded, if only to cover the difference between the number of justices and the number of judicial circuits. The main changes are in Section Two, detailing not only the point that ethics rules apply to the Supreme Court but so do both age limits and term limits. It is also specified that a judge must be qualified to practice law, and must be of minimum age and a US citizen. None of this was in the original text. It is perhaps telling the priority the Founders had for the judicial system that they did not impose the same standard of qualifications that they put on the legislature and the executive.

Next time I want to go over the remaining Constitution, which can stand as is, although I want to do some analysis.

This is the big one.

In the actual Constitution, Article I refers to the Congress, Article II the President and Article III the judiciary. In my previous post, I explained why I put most of the amendments referring to citizen rights in Article I as primary as opposed to being an afterthought. This means that the description of Congress is moved to Article II. And it has a lot of changes, which I will discuss afterward.

The Constitution 2.0 (Part One)

Article II

Section One

The administrative functions of the United States government shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a House of Representatives and a Senate.

Section Two

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every four years by the people of their respective States, from local districts to be determined by federal law. No person shall serve more than three four-year terms to the House, except when serving up to two additional years for a previous Representative’s term in the case of vacancy.

No person shall be a Representative who has not been a United States citizen less than seven years, or is not a legal resident of the State of representation. No person shall be a Representative who is less than 25 years of age or more than 75 years of age. A Representative who has passed the age of 75 may retain that office but is ineligible for re-election if not otherwise term limited.

When vacancies occur in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such vacancies.

Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state. Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative.

The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker from among the membership of their Congress, and shall have the sole power of Impeachment for federal officials.

Section Three

The Senate of the United States shall consist of two Senators from every State, chosen by statewide election. Each Senator serves a term of six years, and no Senator may serve more than two terms, except when serving up to two additional years for a previous Senator’s term in the case of vacancy.

Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.

No Person shall be a Senator who has not been a United States citizen less than nine years, or is not a legal resident of the State of representation. No person shall be a Senator who is less than 30 years of age or more than 75 years of age. A Senator who has passed the age of 75 may retain that office but is ineligible for re-election if not otherwise term limited.

The Senators shall choose their own President of the Senate from among their membership.

The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the Senate is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside and the President of the Senate shall have no vote, and no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of three fifths of the Members present.

Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall only extend to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of Honor, Trust or Profit under the United States but the Party accused shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law, regardless of the status of the Impeachment.

Section Four

The President of the Senate shall act as the chief executive officer of the United States, until removed by his fellow Senators, or if impeached. In Case of the Removal of the President of the Senate from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Senate shall immediately designate a successor from among their ranks.

He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

The President of the Senate shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

The President of the Senate shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices.

He shall annually advise the joint Congress of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

Section Five

The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives shall be regulated by Congress according to Law. All Elections for federal office shall be non-partisan. All federal Elections shall be held on the first Monday in November unless Congress shall by Law appoint a different day.

The Congress shall meet at least once in every Year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the third day of January unless they shall by Law appoint a different day.

Section Six

Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members,and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.

Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behavior, and, with the Concurrence of three fifths, expel a Member.

Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.

Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

Section Seven

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.

No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.

Section Eight

All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.

Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the Senate; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration three fifths of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by three fifths of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.

Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the Senate; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by three fifths of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.

All Senate votes shall be decided by simple majority and cannot be debated or held up by prospect of debate for more than 24 hours upon reaching the floor, the exceptions to the vote threshold being the three fifths vote required in Trials of Impeachment and a presidential veto of a Bill.

Section Nine

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;

To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;

To establish a uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;

To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;

To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;

To establish Post Offices and post Roads;

To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;

To grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment;

To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;

To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offenses against the Law of Nations;

To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;

To raise and support military Forces, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;

To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the military Forces;

To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;

To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;-And

To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.

Section Ten

The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.

No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.

No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.

No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.

No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Section Eleven

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it’s inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.

No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.

Section Twelve

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

NOTES

Notice anything different?

Much of the conditions for override in Congress require a three-fifths vote rather than two-thirds. Federal elections are to be administered through the federal government, rather than the states. Congressmen have term limits. Also, the House terms are expanded from two years to four, so that running for re-election is not more of a full-time job than the actual job.

But you may have noticed the big changes which relate to each other. Article II now refers not simply to the legislative functions of the government but the “administrative” functions. And the upper house (the Senate) effectively has the responsibility of the Presidency, because it will select a spokesman (the President of the Senate) in the same way the House selects a Speaker. This means, among several things, there IS no Vice President, since the one current administrative function of that office (nominal president of the Senate) is covered. Replacement of the Senate President is within the ranks of that house. There is no Electoral College, because the President is not elected separately. And the President of the Senate fills the functions of the President in the historical Article II, which compared to the historical Article I is actually rather brief.

The end result is to effectively change the United States from a presidential republic to a parliamentary republic, such as Germany, or Canada, where there is technically a Governor-General representing the British monarch but in practice the Prime Minister (elected as a Member of Parliament) is the executive officer and diplomatic head of government.

Why did I make these changes? Well,, the primary factor in the corruption of our republic and the business of government is the mindless partisanship between the two guaranteed parties of the duopoly, which is part of what has made the Republican Party insane: First, mindless fear of the opposition ( that being the Democrats. To be sure, Democrats are in fear of Republicans, but with considerably more evidence). Secondly, that fear leads to mindless loyalty to a Leader who promises to beat that opposition, which Trump does. Republicans lost most of the contested midterm elections but swept in 2024 and gained somewhat in downballot races in 2020. The main reason Trump lost then was COVID. Finally, that loyalty is reinforced by the fear of what happens if the Leader is defeated in any way, because that means Those Other People get power again and Our Side are second-class citizens at best.

And some would question why this system eliminates the chance to vote directly for a president. But hey, we have the chance to vote for a president now. The Electoral College notwithstanding, the US President is the only federal office that everybody in the country can vote for on Election Day as opposed to the House (which is per local district) or Senate (which is statewide). And in 2024, Trump actually got the most votes, of the people who showed up.

Was that really the best result?

I first propose to make all federal elections regulated by the government as opposed to states, because that will help to resolve issues with gerrymandering which are part of the problem of having certain seats be safe for one party or the other, which in Republican districts makes politics a contest of performative idiocy in order to get the primary nomination, which is the real vote. I also propose to make all elections non-partisan, as many state races (for judicial posts, sheriff, etc.) already are. This is the best I can expect to solve the matter of corrupt party loyalty without actually banning political parties, which would go against both the letter and the spirit of the First Amendment (the text of which is in my Article I). This would not ban parties, it would certainly not ban associations, but it does mean that party affiliation cannot be listed on the actual ballot. Which among other things means that instead of looking at which party is listed on a candidate’s name, voters would actually have to … do their research.

The other aspect of these changes is that if all work is done through the Congress, there is no longer a matter of Congress not being able to enforce its directives on the executive branch, which has been an issue for years, although primarily during the Trump terms. Most importantly, it puts the burden of responsibility on the Congress for the actions of government, whereas in the system as it stands, both the Congress and the voters build a cult of personality (or hatred) around the President and generally assume that the President is a magic man who can solve all the country’s problems by executive order. Right now it seems as though at least one party is under the assumption that that’s how the government is supposed to work, and they’re just there to draw a paycheck and get tax-paid benefits without having to actually do their jobs, namely setting the agenda for the government that the President is supposed to follow, rather than the other way around.

Now, one of the reasons why we have gradually devolved power to the President is that getting anything done through Congress is difficult. In some cases, that’s by design, and all to the good. However much of the current dysfunction is because of the aforementioned party loyalty and also because of various delaying maneuvers, namely the Senate filibuster, which is nowhere in the Constitution but has effectively created an un-Constitutional standard that any vote requires a three-fifths majority to pass even when this is not specified. That is here disallowed. Traditionalists would object that the filibuster is one of the counter-majoritarian checks in the system to protect minority interests and encourage compromise and debate. But again, it was not part of the system as designed. And in practice, it negates the chance for compromise in debate as a minority party can simply hold together to prevent debate from even coming to the floor on the premise that a measure is not going to pass. Defenders would also argue that the filibuster prevents the majority from being able to act with no regard for other parties. The Senate IS that check on the system. The Senate IS the means by which our republic makes sure that plurality interests are not overrun by a gross majority. The fact that the Senate exists in addition to the House is already a counter-majoritarian check on the public, and it doesn’t need an internal filibuster in addition.

Finally, one might ask, if the Senate is supposed to select a president from their own ranks, and there is no separate Vice President and we currently have 50 states, how would we break a tie? Simple. Make either District of Columbia or Puerto Rico a state. Either that or separate Clark County/Greater Las Vegas area from the rest of Nevada, since these are really two different states anyway.

Next time will be Article III, reviewing the judicial system and the Supreme Court. These changes will not be quite so great, but will probably be seen as radical by the supporters of the Republican Party. But they’re the people whose idea for government is to keep the Constitution exactly as it is, but then run the country as thought it doesn’t exist.

So. This is the start of my project to repurpose the Constitution of the United States. As I said, I am not a lawyer nor a political science expert, and this is very much a first draft. It is intended for the purpose of public debate, because given how the system is broken, we are going to need to debate what replaces it sooner rather than later, and maybe sooner than we would like. Article I is of sufficient length that I feel the need to present it first, and then move on.

Preamble

We the People of the United States recognize the wisdom of our Founders, that all people have the natural rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, that to secure these rights Governments are instituted among the people, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers so as to best effect their Safety and Happiness. To this end we do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Article I

1. The sovereignty of the government is derived from the body of citizens of the United States.

2. The first principle of a free republic is that the people may act freely except where law specifically prevents it, and the government may not act except where specifically empowered by law.

3. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people.

4. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.

5. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. Legal constructions such as corporations are not persons for this purpose.

6. The rights of the citizen shall not be abridged by the United States nor any State on account of circumstances of birth, including race, gender or gender identity, nor in regard to political belief, religious belief, or lack thereof.

7. No law shall be made creating an establishment of religion, nor prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the media, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and petition the government for a redress of grievances.

8. The natural right of self-defense, in particular the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

9. No Soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in a time of war except in a manner to be prescribed by law.

10. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall be issued without probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or things to be seized.

11. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in active service in time of War or public danger, nor shall any person for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against themselves, nor be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

12. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously determined by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against them, and to have counsel assist in their defense.

13. In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall be twenty dollars, the right of a trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than under the rules of common law.

14. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

15. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, nor any place subject to their jurisdiction.

16. All citizens of the United States and each state thereof, as defined above, are automatically registered to vote in all state and federal elections at 18 years of age. The right to vote may not be abridged except if convicted of a felony offense.

17. The laws of each State, and their State Constitutions, remain in effect upon ratifying this Constitution, except insofar as they are contradicted by it.

Notes

The Preamble obviously invokes both The Declaration of Independence and the Preamble of the current Constitution. It stems from the premise that governments are established to protect our natural rights, and “whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these ends” the people have the right to alter or abolish it. Thus the necessity of the document. If the current system had not become destructive to the ends of the original Constitution, this measure would not be necessary.

The original Constitution started with focus on the three branches of government, Article I (Congress, the legislative branch) Article II (the President and executive branch) and Article III (the judiciary and Supreme Court). As part of the debates leading up to the signing of the document, it was noted by critics that certain elements of common law, or desired elements from other State documents, were not included, these being the protections that eventually became the Bill of Rights. Subsequent Amendments (such as the right of minorities, women, and 18-year olds to vote) were added over time as demand arose.

I have put most of that up front, ahead of the role of the Congress, which is now Article II. This is to emphasize the primacy of the citizen and the protection of rights as the purpose of the government. Most of Article I is simply rearranging the constitutional amendments referring to human rights and citizen rights. Including the right of individuals to bear arms. That might come up someday.

The root premise of how free a government should get versus what the basis of regulation should be “is that the people may act freely except where law specifically prevents it, and the government may not act except where specifically empowered by law.” This is similar to what are now the Ninth and Tenth Amendments (the text of which are also included here) but spelled out for emphasis. This idea is taken directly from Ayn Rand in the compilation The Virtue of Selfishness, specifically, “Under a proper social system, a private individual is legally free to take any action he pleases (so long as he does not violate the rights of others), while a government official is bound by law in his every official act. A private individual may do anything except that which is legally forbidden; a government official may do nothing except that which is legally permitted. “

This is also paralleled in the language of France’s Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Articles IV and V. I believe it is important enough that it needs to be emphasized even over what is currently the First Amendment.

In this country, we call voting a right, but in practice states keep putting up a bunch of roadblocks to make it more difficult. Default voter registration addresses this, so that it is not an issue that states can interfere with, and the right to vote only being denied for cause. In some ways this goes against my inclination. I am inclined to make voting eligibility contingent on a civics and basic knowledge test, including the question, “Can you explain the difference between ‘your’ and ‘you’re’?” But as with literacy tests, that sort of thing was declared unconstitutional because it was gaming the rights of citizens so that state governments could pick their voters. Likewise making registration and eligibility a federal matter makes it more difficult for states to select their voters, which is a big part of why the last few elections have turned out like they have. This is especially important in the rules for Congress (Article II) to follow.

I don’t have much to live for anymore.

My Dad died. My Mom died. My brothers died. My two best friends died. My dogs died.

And as I go on, everything I loved and everything I care about dies out before me.

As I get older it is increasingly clear that I am not immortal and I am getting less immortal all the time.

I now basically have the old-fashioned idea that I should just try to leave this world a better place than I found it, or at least not make it worse.

And I had thought that the United States of America would outlive me, but now I’m not so sure.

Because this week, Elon Musk, the actual chief executive of the United States, commandeered the records of the entire US Treasury and sent his own personal staff, who were not government employees, to come in with personal unsecured devices in order to purge the bureaucracy, taking out the separate USAID charity organization (supposedly now being shifted to the State Department) while also seeking to defund or outright eliminate other agencies like the Department of Education. [NOTE: I just found out that the Trump ‘administration’ agreed to restrict DOGE staff access to Treasury records “after a group of union members and retirees sued the Treasury Department alleging that providing DOGE access to the federal government’s massive payment and collections system — and the personal data housed in it — violated federal privacy laws.”]

Now, I still consider myself a right-winger, so in principle I would be in favor of killing the Department of Education. After all, most of the people who voted for Trump after he gave us all Trump Virus ™ were products of American public schools, so clearly it’s not doing any good.

But even if you could make cases against a lot of these agencies, the fact is it is not Elon Musk’s place to cut the funding. The Congress in Article I of the Constitution has sole power of the purse and the executive branch is there to make sure its funds are administered as Congress directs. Even if Vice President Trump designates Musk and his boy band “special government employees” after the fact they have no certification in that system. And nobody, including Republicans, elected Elon Musk to effectively have more power than the President does. This is nothing less than a coup.

We could fight them for real, but as Eric Stratton says, that would take years, and cost millions of lives. The saving grace of our situation is that these people are as incompetent as they are evil. In past examples of encroaching tyranny, we had previously used the example of a frog in a pot of water, which is gradually turned up to the boiling point slowly enough that the frog doesn’t realize what is happening and cooks to death. Well, the Trump-Musk Party decided to just turn the stove to full boil then take the metal pot off the stove and shove it in the microwave.

The escalation is getting to the point that it may raise a critical mass of people against it, including some Trump voters, like all those senior citizens who now know that their Social Security records are in the hands of the world’s most powerful drug addict.

But even if we could claw back some of this power grab, we will never get back to the status quo ante, because it no longer exists. The precedent has been set. The precedent being, that once a guy is elected president, he can do whatever the hell he wants. Even if he’s not currently president. He can stage an insurrection against his successor’s certification, send a mob into the Capitol to try and kill the Speaker of the House and his own Vice President, and not get prosecuted. He can run for president again despite being an insurrectionist, because the Supreme Court wants to pretend the 14^th Amendment doesn’t exist. He can steal classified documents from the White House and not get prosecuted because he’s running for president again. And when he gets re-elected he can have Elon Musk and his chemically addled commandos seize control of the infrastructure with no certification whatsoever. Why? Because we let the president do anything he wants. And this is a standard that was set long before Trump. And if you’re a Democrat, not taking advantage of that is handicapping yourself. People complained that Biden pardoned his son, like that was going to be a lowering of our legal standards. But those standards no longer exist. Biden was simply acknowledging that fact.

We need to acknowledge it too.

The system is broken. It cannot be glued back together like a Japanese vase. We need to start over.

We need a Constitution 2.0.

Laws in and of themselves will not restrain evil men, for the reasons we’ve seen, but we can at least change the incentives to make abuse less likely, and resetting the system will make it more clear that the precedent of abuse will no longer stand.

Now, I am not a lawyer, nor do I have a Political Science degree, but neither does Elon Musk, and that’s not stopping him. I think that we need to have this discussion sooner rather than later, and in my next posts I want to go over my ideas for what ought to be changed. You could even call it a prolegomena, if you want to get all Kantian and pretentious.

But prior to going over my ideas, I would need to explain the basis of where they are coming from, so in my next post I want to go over what my philosophy and political positions are now and how I got to that point.

Response sent to Andrew Sullivan on “Keep Calm, Carry On… And Wait“

Dear Andrew,

Do I think there is NOTHING good about Trump 2.0, otherwise known as Everything I Don’t Like is DEI?  Well actually I am pleasantly surprised that his foreign policy team consists of realists on Ukraine like Marco Rubio and Keith Kellogg, who put the burden of resolution on Vladimir Putin, as opposed to Anthony Blinken, who was trying to preserve a status quo that no longer exists, or a John Mearsheimer, who would tell us all that Putin is just misunderstood.

But otherwise, we go back to your question, “regime change or another shit-show?”  And after only two weeks, the answer is clearly: BOTH.  We have these people creating deliberate chaos with orders and policy changes that are illegal, cannot be carried out, or cannot be carried out because they’re illegal.  You would think that conservatives would know what “Chesterton’s Fence” is.

What we’re seeing are two inter-related points. One, Trump is clearly a senile tapioca brain who is front and center to amuse the proles and distract the media while the actual think tank like Elon Musk, Stephen Miller and Russell Vought does the real work.  You can see this in his marathon Oval Office signing sessions where the staffer has to tell him what the order he’s signing is for, and Trump looks at it and always says, “Ooh, that’s a big one.”

From a right-libertarian standpoint, if all this just meant cutting taxes, cutting wasteful spending, cutting counterproductive regulations, and killing wokeness, that would be one thing.   But that gets to point two – clearly people like Vought, Musk and Miller have no clue how government works either, despite being more intelligent and qualified than Trump.  But the point isn’t to do things on procedure.  The point is to break the system. And they’re doing it because they think they can.

Because everyone in the institution, from Mitch McConnell to Merrick Garland to John Roberts went out of their way to tell Trump that he could do anything he wanted and no one would stop him, and last election the public agreed with that, and thanks to the downballot vote, Democrats have less ability to oppose him than ever.  But then, if they knew how to counter Trump, they wouldn’t have lost the election.

But now we’re seeing Musk muscling in to get his people infested in the civil service and his information systems running the record keeping, and various things are being taken out of government websites, like, the text of the Constitution.  Any dissent is being killed, despite the fact that the last nine years have demonstrated that you can dissent against Donald Trump all you want, and nothing can stop him.

The only thing that did stop him was public contempt at his disastrous handling of COVID, and that was only because it was an election year.  And I predict that Trump WILL cause a catastrophe on par with COVID, if not worse.  Because the factors that led to it have been reinforced and the safeguards have been removed.

So when you say, “Keep Calm, Carry On… And Wait”, I ask- wait for what? Things ARE going to get worse, much quicker than anybody expects. The catastrophe is going to happen before the midterms, and at this rate, before June.  And when, NOT if, it happens, we as a country will not be ready.  Because again the election will not be a factor, Democrats cannot stop him and Republicans never would stop him.  And if Trump dies of his various co-morbidities, his handpicked successor is JD Vance, who is a sincere religious fanatic, as opposed to Trump, who is clearly just a religious fanatic for the money.  But in regard to Vance, good of you to point out that every conservative convert to Catholicism suddenly acts like they have more doctrinal authority than the Pope.

But hey, at least we don’t have to worry about the pronoun police anymore.  That’s the important thing, right?

Sincerely,

JAMES

Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

– Martin Luther King Jr.

Supposedly Donald Trump got re-inaugurated last Monday. I didn’t see it. Because I have made a deliberate policy to punish Trump’s collaborator media by boycotting any live coverage of his appearances, including his State of the Union or any White House press conferences. After all, most of non-Trump America boycotted Election Day, and that made a pretty big difference.

Trump won the election even though on the one debate His Majesty deigned to grant Kamala Harris , she spanked his ass harder than Stormy Daniels and didn’t even have to get paid for it. He won because a critical plurality of Americans are maliciously ignorant and see all his vices as virtues. But the malicious idiocy of Trumpniks is a known quantity. All you have to do is outvote them. They were not outvoted. Kamala Harris got at least ten million less votes than Joe Biden got in 2020, and if you’re to believe the people in Nancy Pelosi’s camp, Harris did a lot better than Biden would’ve if he’d stuck it out.

Everybody knew Trump was a criminal, everybody remembered, presumably, that he killed hundreds of thousands with Trump Virus (TM) and everybody knew what would happen if Trump was re-elected, and they stayed home anyway because they did not see the Democratic Party as worth voting for.

And it remains to be seen exactly why each and every potential voter who didn’t vote for Trump also didn’t vote for Harris, but there is some more after-the-fact research coming out. “A poll from the Middle East Understanding Policy Project/YouGov released Wednesday found that Gaza was the number one reason why millions who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 decided to stay home in 2024.” The YouGov poll revealed that the issue played a huge role in battleground states, which Donald Trump swept, as 20% of voters in the six swing states that flipped from Biden to Trump said that “ending Israel’s violence in Gaza” was their top issue followed by 33% of people for the economy. “Even among Biden 2020 voters who did vote for Harris in swing states, voters by a 7:1 margin say they would have been more enthusiastic in their support if Harris ‘pledged to break from Biden by promising to withhold weapons to Israel,’ rather than less enthusiastic.” USA Today: “Harris underperformed with voters of color − particularly Latino voters − but also Black voters in urban centers such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Milwaukee. Harris carried Black voters 86%-12% and Latino voters 53%-45%, according to CNN exit polls. But in the 2020 election, Biden won Black voters by a wider 92%-8% margin over Trump, and Latino voters 65%-32%.”

The point isn’t whether Democrats should align with the socialist/progressive/Free Palestine people or go with the centrists like Lucas Kunze, John Fetterman and Seth Moulton who want the party more focused on the old kitchen-table issues. The point is that they aren’t doing either. What is the Democratic Party doing? Who knows? Not even them.

Back in Malcolm X’ day he would talk to Black audiences about the difference between the “field Negro” and the “house Negro.” (Keep in mind, at the time ‘negro’ was the polite term.) In one speech, he said: “The house Negro usually lived close to his master. He dressed like his master. He wore his master’s second-hand clothes. He ate food that his master left on the table. And he lived in his master’s house–probably in the basement or the attic–but he still lived in the master’s house. … But then you had another Negro out in the field. The house Negro was in the minority. The masses–the field Negroes were the masses. They were in the majority. When the master got sick, they prayed that he’d die. If his house caught on fire, they’d pray for a wind to come along and fan the breeze.

“If someone came to the house Negro and said, “Let’s go, let’s separate,” naturally that Uncle Tom would say, “Go where? What could I do without boss? Where would I live? How would I dress? Who would look out for me?” That’s the house Negro. But if you went to the field Negro and said, “Let’s go, let’s separate,” he wouldn’t even ask you where or how. He’d say, “Yes, let’s go.” And that one ended right there.”

Democrats are the house Negroes of American government. Their priority is to preserve the institution, even if it ceases to serve its original purpose. So if that means enabling the Trumpniks that seek to destroy it, well, that’s okay, as long as they keep a seat at the table. Even if it’s the kids’ table. The point is they get to keep all the privileges and perks of being in Washington, which is really all that Republican politicians want, except they actually, y’know, do stuff.

There is this theory in cynical leftist circles called Murc’s Law, which is the idea that in public perception everything is (or is made out to be) Democrats’ fault, including what Republicans do because Democrats somehow provoked them into doing it. Which is not entirely fair. Because it’s pretty obvious that Republicans are going to do whatever they want regardless of how Democrats act. Murc’s Law has also been expressed as “the widespread assumption that only Democrats have any agency or causal influence over American politics”. A more accurate expression would be this: Republicans DO have agency, and they have the power of moral choice, whether they want to admit it or not. They go along with Trump not (just) because they’re scared of him and his Mob, but ultimately because he gets them what they want, and for that they will throw away everything they used to call “conservative.” They have agency. They can choose to do the right thing. And for at least since the Clinton Administration, they have always done the wrong thing. And since you can’t control them, and you can only control yourselves, you are responsible for what you can control.

Some would argue that rather than blaming Attorney General Merritt Garland for not prosecuting Trump before the midterms, we should blame Mitch McConnell, because after all, he was Senate Majority Leader during January 6 and in the impeachment could have organized his colleagues to get the necessary two-thirds vote for conviction, which also could have meant barring Trump from office and breaking his hold on the Republican Party. It was his fault for not having the Senate do their damn job. And while that assertion is quite true, it only confirms the point that Republicans have agency and choice, and they always choose evil. Mitch McConnell is the reason why Merritt Garland is not a Supreme Court Justice in the first place. If you’re relying on Mitch McConnell to save the republic, you’re doomed. Which is why the Biden Administration should have taken McConnell’s decision as policy, and acted accordingly.

If Biden had instead appointed Jack Smith or someone of like character to be Attorney General, he would at least have started the investigations earlier so that Trump’s telegraphed strategy of legal delay until re-election would have been less likely to succeed. Biden and Harris kept saying that Trump and Republicans were an existential threat to the republic, but they didn’t act like it. By appointing Garland as AG and not pressing the issue of January 6 while it was still fresh, Biden and Democrats gave the impression that Trump’s behavior was the new norm. If we wanted to preserve the impression of a two-party system where Republicans and Democrats could negotiate in good faith, Democrats needed to address the main aberration preventing such negotiation. Because let’s face it, if you really DO believe that the republic is under threat, refusing to take every legal means to deal with it means you have failed your raison d’etre as government, just as surely as if you had let Mexico or Russia march troops into one of our states.

Another issue that was definitely under Democratic control was the economy. “It’s the economy, stupid” in America is analogous to that Roman emperor who told his heirs “Make the soldiers rich and don’t worry about the rest“. This is what you need to keep foremost if you want to stay on top. Needless to say, one thing you don’t want to do if you want to stay in office is jack up inflation. But while Biden’s America Rescue Plan was intended to deal with COVID impacts on the economy, and other developed nations also had price increases after 2020, in the US prices rose higher and faster. was primarily intended to reduce deficits long term by creating even more spending on IRS enforcement and renewable energy initiatives. However experts say its impacts, if any, will take place over years and it did not have a statistical impact on inflation leading up to 2024, and now that Republicans have all branches of government, they are in position to reverse a lot of these changes. Which is another good lesson in regard to both the Biden and Obama presidencies: Will the changes you want to implement cost you so much politically that they can be easily reversed the next time Republicans get power?

Democrats, you protected an establishment that wasn’t working for the average American, and that’s why the country abandoned you. Now authoritarians control all three branches of government, and thanks to the tech bros and TikTok, they control the media. Something else you completely took for granted. So you can quit defending the establishment, because you’re no longer it. You should do what Republicans did during all those years of liberal Big Government dominance: use the remaining procedures of the system to gum up their plans, while you still have the chance. Create your own media spaces to build a following outside the “Lamestream Media.” Like Rush Limbaugh did. And you should actually do what Rush and Newt Gingrich did with the “Contract For America” when they sought to take control of the House of Representatives: Tell everybody what you’re actually FOR. And publicize a step-by-step plan for how you want to accomplish it in the Congress, as opposed to hoping you elect a president so he can do everything by executive order.

And to the leftist faction, if you really care about the human rights of Palestinians, maybe try not to give political aid and comfort to Jared Kushner’s father-in-law. Just a thought. You could use one.

To come down to it, Democrats need to find out what people actually want from the government and then offer yourselves as the party that can do it. Even if that goes against your protocols or you don’t think it’s going to work. You’ve tried what you think is going to work, and it hasn’t. Remember the Costanza Maneuver.

The fact is, most Americans are not communists. We do not believe that billionaires are inherently evil just because they have more money than everyone else. We do not necessarily hate Christians just because they believe in something no one else can see. The majority ARE Christians, at least nominally. We do not hate conservatism just because. In fact, the reason the once-Republican Party has managed to coast this long is because Americans ARE generally right-of-center. It’s the billionaires and religious conservatives themselves that are promoting an image of petty control freaks against a general public that is disinclined to believe the Left’s opinion of them. In other words, if anyone believes the “conservatives” are the enemy, it’s because of what they actually do, not because of what Democrats say they are. Cause as we saw in November, no one cares what Democrats think.

If there is no constructive opposition to the party in power, eventually there will come a destructive opposition. This is what we saw in at least two elections. People were so sick of the Democrats and their mores and their political correctness that they elected the Trump Party, again, even knowing what that would mean. But what happens when even the opposition becomes insufferable and there is no constructive alternative to them?

If we actually survive four years of this, the Trump Party is going to have to decide if it wants to support Trump for a third term, against the Constitution. (I doubt he will live so long, but remember, God is real, and He hates us all.) Doing so would cause conflict immediately. Worse would be if he does retire, or dies before 2028, in which case the cult will have its various factions fight it out for supremacy, since none of them command the same mass appeal that Trump does on his own. I predict the various proud oathbreaker boogaloo boys will rampage across the land committing bloodshed and mass rape, possibly involving women. Eventually it will escalate across the 48 states, if not beyond, and make The Purge look like Switzerland. When they have exhausted our military resources and manpower, the remaining 40 percent of sane Americans will have to find the least radioactive part of the country and try to rebuild civilization.

But that’s the optimistic view.

More likely Americans will continue to do what they always do, they will continue to normalize, they will continue to rationalize, they will continue to refuse to take radical action against radical action, and the republic will continue to decay into a zombie of itself, dropping once-vital organs out of its body as it shambles on. And future generations will think the current dysfunction is the way things always were, and therefore the way things are supposed to be. While those old enough to remember where everything went south will look at 2025 as the good old days.

In the short term, I’ve decided that when it comes time to confirm my voter registration, I’m going to change back to Independent from Democrat. Not that I am not still obliged to vote for Democrats as the only plausible not-Trump party in the general election, but the only reason to be in the party is to vote in their primary rounds, and it’s pretty clear to me that my opinion isn’t wanted. And if my mental contribution isn’t wanted, most of the party (with some exceptions) isn’t getting my material contribution either. Cause at this point, the main difference between a Kickstarter fundraising campaign and a Democratic Party fundraising campaign is that in the Kickstarter campaign there’s a better chance of getting what I paid for.

Mister Speaker,

it has come to the attention of some of us that our 45^th President, soon to be inaugurated the 47^th, Donald Trump, is not amused. He recently posted on social media, ““The Democrats are all ‘giddy’ about our magnificent American Flag potentially being at ‘half mast’ during my Inauguration”. How could this be? Because former president Jimmy Carter, having already lived to 100 years old, decided to die on the last day of 2024, prompting the current president Joe Biden to announce a thirty day period of mourning, which would end up including the re-inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20, almost as if Carter were intending to ruin the event.

But how could he? How could this fact dispel the happiness of this occasion, in which the divine order of things is restored and our sovereign returns to his rightful place of power? How could it be counted as an omen against the new president? Has he not proven himself invincible?

Donald Trump, whose wrath shakes the mountains and causes storm fronts to recede from his glare. Donald Trump, who single-handedly created the Grand Canyon – after vacationing in Arizona and misplacing his wallet. Donald Trump, whose member is of such length, mass and hardness that he may topple the Washington Monument with a single whack.

And yet, Our President, whose dread majesty has reduced every member of the Republican caucus to fearful obedience, has the sensitivity of a small child, such that the coincidence of another president’s mourning period triggers hysterical emotion. Truly, Our President is a colossus who contains multitudes. Verily, he is like Zeus, only without the modesty or chastity. But why should he NOT be offended? Is Donald Trump not a better president than Jimmy Carter? Has he not done what no man since Grover Cleveland did, winning a presidential election after losing one? A loss, I do not need to remind my Republican colleagues, that only occurred because the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from Our President, and yet he returned with an undeniable majority vote – of the people who bothered to show up – despite the fact that there were one million fewer Americans since 2020, thanks to a deadly virus that President Trump allowed to run rampant. Surely that victory speaks to his popularity and his political acumen?

Therefore Mister Speaker, in order to compensate our Dear Leader for the offense committed against him by the real world, I propose the following:

That on the day of Donald Trump’s own death, whatever date on the calendar that may be, Congress shall declare the anniversary of said death to be a federal holiday and a date of remembrance and celebration. It will be a day of feasting and merriment for the country at large and a day of rest for our federal employees and contractors.

In this way, We, the People, will be able to demonstrate to Donald Trump’s family and faithful how much more popular he is than Jimmy Carter, how much more loved he is than Jimmy Carter, and how much better a president he is than Jimmy Carter. I think Trump’s followers will be amazed at the passion of our nation’s response.

And finally Mister Speaker, so that this happy day will not be too long delayed, I hereby offer a solemn prayer to the LORD, that He may take his faithful servant, Donald Trump, home to live with him as soon as possible, so that Elon Musk can get back to running things without further interference.

I yield back the balance of my time.

I exploit you

Still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three

Oho, I’m the cult of personality

– Living Colour, Cult of Personality

Happy New Year!

Eh, not really. I am not at all expecting this to be a happy year. This week is more about celebrating the fact that 2024 is finally over.

In less than three weeks Trump is going to resume his throne in the country that was once a democratic republic. And if I have to keep talking about him for the next four years (at least) I have to decide how he is to be addressed.

I am now willing to call Trump ‘President-elect’ because clearly he did get elected with a slim majority and a large margin in the Electoral College, but I am not calling him ‘president’ because while he likewise got elected fair and square in 2016, he lost all right to that title with his actions in office.

Likewise I am willing to use the expression POTUS, (President Of The United States) except that we are clearly no longer a “united” states, thus Trump would simply be President Of States, or POS.

I had called Trump Viceroy of Russian North America, but that may no longer be the case. Because now that Vladimir Putin has been grinding his army to death in Ukraine for the better part of three years, and had to pull out of Syria because they needed all the troops they could get for Ukraine, Russia is clearly getting weak. And Trump is like a shark, for example in terms of morality and higher brain processes. But specifically in that if the shark smells blood in the water, it’s going to dive for it. And right now, Putin is literally bleeding. So is Ukraine, but based on the fact that Trump’s foreign policy team includes hawks like Marco Rubio and General Keith Kellogg, Trump may not be as supplicant to Putin as he has been. Probably his staff told him he can get a lot more money from having Ukraine in the Western fold than he can get from having America in the Russian fold.

Which gets to another thing with Trump. Even during his first term, it was often noted that Trump didn’t have a policy on anything, his actions were basically dictated by the last person who talked to him. Well, at this point, Trump is so old that he can’t find his own dick without a smartphone app. He was basically running for president just to feed his Id and stay out of jail, and thanks to his cult, he achieved that goal. So he doesn’t need them anymore. And he doesn’t really need to actually be president, he can just hang around in the White House and Mar-a-Lago and fly everywhere with the Secret Service and overcharge their accomodations on the taxpayer dime and have two scoops of ice cream at every dinner and not have to actually do anything for it as long as the people around him are doing what the Republican brain trust wants them to do.

Coming up to the election it was becoming obvious to a lot of us that the people behind Trump were using him as a celebrity figurehead to sell an autocracy to the masses, and once inaugurated they would be the ones in charge, but now that it’s done and no one can do anything about it, they’re just making it that much more obvious to everyone else.

Which is why I decided that Trump’s new title is:
Vice President Trump.

Because really, has anyone even seen JD Vance recently?

What made Trump’s real status clear even to the Trumpniks is the recent “civil war” over H1B visas. His tech bros, President-elect Elon Musk and councilor Vivek Ramaswamy are in favor of them, ostensibly because we don’t have enough qualified professionals in the States but really because we don’t have to pay immigrant professionals as much and the status of an H1B visa is conditional and can be revoked, giving employers leverage over these employees. Of course people like Elon Musk would never be so unethical as to exploit such undue advantage.

Whereas Laura Loomer and other MAGA nativists object to the H1B not because it allows exploitation but because we’re getting more people of Indian descent – like Ramaswamy – into the culture of this country. And they’ve been saying so. And not unclearly.

Which allows people like Ramaswamy and Musk to actually flip back and pose as defenders of classical liberal capitalism and equal opportunity after playing to the same nativists for all this time. And after the Trumpnik backlash to his policy, President-elect Musk first posted on X “FUCK YOURSELF in the face” and then “Please post a bit more positive, beautiful or informative content on this platform”. Twitter was never about positive, beautiful or informative content even before he took it over, and it is certainly not so now.

And of course Musk also de-monetized the accounts of people like Loomer, to prove his commitment to free speech.

And after all this everyone in Trumpworld was waiting to see how the czar would react given his own criticisms of H1B, Trump told reporters this weekend that he’s “always liked” the visas. At his New Year’s party a reporter asked him what made him change his mind, and he said “I didn’t change my mind.”

Well, he IS senile.

December 27, Trump posted “Anyone – of any race, creed or nationality – who came to America and worked like hell to contribute to this country will forever have my respect. America is the land of freedom and opportunity. Fight with every fiber of your being to keep it that way!”

And one of his followers responded “Wtf is going on here? This is NOT what we voted for.”

You can’t show it any better than that.

I mean, certainly Trumpniks didn’t vote to keep America as a land of freedom and opportunity for anyone who is willing to work for it.

This is the problem with representative government generally and the American “democracy” in particular. Elected officials only answer to voters every two to six years, but they answer to their donors every single day. So who did you think Trump was going to side with?

Charlie Kirk recently said that we didn’t vote for an oligarch. This just a few weeks after Steve Bannon told the fan club that Trump should run for a third term and put political opponents like Rachel Maddow in prison. But you didn’t elect an oligarch.

Bullshit you did. You wanted a thin-skinned oligarch with delusions of competence, you just wanted it to be Trump. Because you’re a cult of personality and style matters more than substance.

So congratulations, your personality cult just elected a thin-skinned oligarch with delusions of competence, it’s just a different personality.

That’s what you wanted, Trumpniks. That’s what you’re going to get.

And there’s a word for people who conned themselves into getting something they thought they didn’t want.

The word is sucker.

So here’s your sign:

I expect you to be wearing this for me every damn day for the next four years, or however long it takes for people to start CAD-producing guillotines.