virginia – Page 3 – Bumpass Prose and Politics

A Virginian’s “Notes” on the Constitution

This week, after another dismal showing by the Supreme Court, I asked myself whether our Constitution is all smoke and mirrors. A Potemkin Village. A parchment signifying nothing. Like Macbeth’s soliloquy for his dead wife, “a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.”

At least that is how I interpreted a recent series of Supreme Court’s shadow docket rulings. As someone who spent 29 years in law enforcement and for decades closely read the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center’s quarterly summaries of federal court rulings as they pertained to constitutional rights, it is my considered judgment that the Supreme Court has abandoned sanity and the rule of law in favor of partisan power.

One of my favorite references as to the intent of the framers of our Constitution is James Madison’s ‘Notes on the Constitutional Convention.’ My copy is well worn, with markers and scribbles in the margins and since January 20 has been a constant companion. I even had Chief Justice Scalia sign it when he visited the embassy in Lisbon when I was assigned there between 2005 and 2008.

Every time the Supreme Court makes a ruling, I go to Madison’s ‘Notes’ — and the Federalist essays — and read the debates at the convention relevant to the issue the Court just decided. The delegates at the convention did not leave many stones unturned in their debates, disputes we continue to dredge up and debate to this day. As for the conservative super majority, who fancy themselves die hard textualists and originalists, they seem to ignore the intent, spirit, and tone of the constitutional convention when it suits them, if not the very text of the Constitution.

The ‘Notes,’ are a compilation of Madison’s minutes of the daily proceedings of the constitutional convention in Philadelphia during the scorching summer months of 1787. It was published posthumously some 50 years after the convention. Revised and amended by Madison over the 50 years before publication, one must approach the ‘Notes’ cautiously. Nonetheless, they are a remarkable account of the discourse and debates that resulted in our Constitution. Madison’s summaries of the day-to-day debates, however flawed, provided unique insights into the worldview of the delegates that created our government and fundamental laws of the land.

Our Constitution was radical and captured the spirit and ideas of over 300 years of renaissance and enlightenment thinking, enshrining into a written constitution the primacy of the people as sovereign: We the people. Nonetheless, our new Constitution was far from perfect. In fact, it was deeply flawed because those at the convention convinced themselves that slavery was on its way to extinction, that it would diffuse and extinguish itself soon. Instead, they ended up sacrificing generations of captive African Americans to slavery for the sake of white national unity. As it turned out, they only deferred our country’s reckoning with slavery until 1861. It would take a ‘second’ founding after a Civil War to amend the Constitution to reflect the original premise of the Declaration of Independence, the bit about equality.

Our founding thinkers did not invent democracy, republics, or even the concept of separation of powers. The ideas that animated their debates go back to Greece and Rome,16^th century Republics such as Florence, Renaissance writers such as Machiavelli, and later enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu, Hume, and Rousseau. If anything, our founders took their history seriously. They believed in the ancient notion of virtuous leaders and feared the mob, that is the tyranny of the majority.

The result a novel invention of a republic with two sovereigns – sovereign states within a sovereign federal union – and a hybrid government mix of the one, the few, the many (President, Senate, House of Representatives). The key ingredient: built in checks and balances. In short, compromise. A word now considered a pejorative by right wing conservatives.

They codified their fears into hard checks and balances into our founding document. Co-equal branches of government, designed to check one another out of jealousy for one’s own power. That is the foundation, the spine, the bedrock, whatever metaphor you want to use, of our Constitution. Without checks and balances it collapses like a dying star.

Our history is complex. On the one hand, America has a legacy of horrific racist policies since independence from England: slavery, ethnic cleansing of Native Americans, Chinese Exclusion Act, Separate but Equal segregation, interment of Japanese Americans are but a few. But there was also the New Deal, the long Civil Rights movement, and women’s suffrage. Through all this our constitutional system – the mechanics — functioned as designed for the most part.

The mechanics of our system is collapsing. Since January 20, ruling by decree, Trump is squashing America’s rule of law like a junkyard car crusher. The cowards in Congress mute as they render themselves into useless piles of worthless scrap. While Democrat leaders twirled and lurched like bungling idiots during the initial onslaught of presidential decrees, the lower courts held their ground, pausing many of these orders after hearing arguments. Unsung men and women if you ask me. For the most part the appeals courts also held firm.

The Supreme Court on the other hand is a disaster, ripping out the valves, pistons, and belts that kept our system humming. They continue to hand Trump unprecedented powers one shadow docket ruling after another. And in their own power grab, kneecapping the lower courts. In many cases, rulings are announced without even offering an explanatory opinion: the ‘why.’ Mostly I think because they don’t have a legally sound ‘why’ to back up their decrees. Yes, that is what their rulings have become in essence under this regime of shadow dockets: Decrees. Like a solar eclipse, the proliferation of these rulings is thrusting the rule of law into darkness, something one sees in authoritarian regimes.

So, here is where we are now.

In Philadelphia 238 years ago, a group of delegates representing 12 of the 13 states, assembled, debated, and drafted the rudimentary structure of a new type of government never seen before. The great experiment began. They knew the document they produced wasn’t perfect, and they recognized the need to be able to change the document with the times, outlining a process to amend the Constitution through considered debate and argument. They were also cleared eyed about power and how it corrupts, building in checks and balances.

Those checks and balances are disappearing like Epstein’s client list. We now have a President who unilaterally rewrites the Constitution through edict and is immune from official acts that are criminal in nature; a Supreme Court that unilaterally changes the Constitution through opaque shadow rulings; a Congress and Supreme Court willfully and energetically empowering a tyrant King. Like Macbeth’s monologue, I ask myself, “Is American democracy on its way to dusty death?” Our candle snuffed out?

It is not too late. The candle can be relit but will take time and effort. We should focus on what we, in Virginia, can control. The next step is to vote Abigail Spanberger in as Governor this November and keep our state legislature majority blue. This November’s election will be a bellwether for the mid-terms the following year. It is an opportunity for Virginians to send a message to Trump, the do-nothing Virginian Republican sycophants in Congress, and the Supreme Court.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

For three plus years my wife and I were volunteer repair program managers for Charlottesville’s Habitat for Humanity program in Louisa. The repair program primarily focused on ensuring folks could safely get in and out of their homes. This included repairing or replacing decks or stoops and stairs, replacing or repairing exterior doors, installing ramps. We also replaced or fixed window, siding, soffits, gutters, and the occasional roof. The work was all done by volunteers. One year I put 2500 miles on my truck supporting Habitat projects, which reflects the demand for housing aid in Louisa County.

Whether or not a project went forward after the initial survey and scope of work was completed, depended on the client’s income. They had to make at or less than 50 percent of the average marginal income for the county. Our typical client was female, over 65, widowed, earning between $8 to $24K per year. The bulk of that from Social Security. To say the least, they struggled to keep maintain their homes. Most had worked their entire adult lives yet have economically drifted downwards into poverty once they can work no longer.

No defined pensions, marginal savings if any. The only wealth they have was tied up in their home and land, but without being able to maintain the home or land, its value shrinks. Given the absence of affordable housing in the county, the elderly who want to maintain their independence and local connections have two basic choices: Sell and move out of the county or stay in a decaying home. The Fluvanna-Louisa Housing Foundation is working solutions for this conundrum of Louisa’s elderly, pulling an indifferent Board of Supervisors along with it.

The reasons for the statistic regarding our primary clients are myriad, but three primary causes stand out. Women tend to get paid less than their male counterparts, even if they worked the same job. This continues to this day. Additionally, women of the generation we tended to work with were limited to careers they could work in, which in many instances, were lower paid. Finally, during childbearing years, women usually had to quit work or take long periods of unpaid leave. A triple whammy. Social Security benefits are tied to one’s annual income and lifelong earnings. So, after decades of work and sacrifices, women tend to have accumulated less Social Security benefits and retirement savings. Their reward? Poverty.

The ‘big, beautiful bill’ will add misery to the county, especially to our elderly on fixed limited incomes. For instance, our elderly clients typically pay Medicare premiums out of their Social Security benefits. For those that cannot afford Medicare premiums, which I imagine were most of them, there used to be financial assistance through the Medicare Savings Program (MSP). The beautiful bill cuts or eliminates assistance. The MSP cuts could force enrollees who earn less than $24K a year to pay an additional $3000 out of pocket for Medicare premiums, potentially $8k if a couple. Our average client will be devastated economically, to say nothing about the impacts to their health care should they lose Medicare insurance, such as access to prescriptions.

Speaking of health care, cuts to Medicaid will indirectly impact access to health care for the elderly in rural areas such as Louisa. Rural hospitals and clinics rely on Medicaid payments to stay in business. Less income will result in closures. About 17 percent of Louisa residents rely on Medicaid. Louisa is already a medical care desert as it is, and it will get worse after this bill. No hospital, no public health clinics (except for Central Virginia Health Services, a non-profit group), and no private urgent care type facilities (not profitable enough for them to come to Louisa). I imagine that the number of doctor offices we do have will shrink.

Shifting money to the wealthy. The bill does provide for a senior tax deduction. If you earn more in income benefits, you can claim a larger tax deduction. For instance, if you are 65 or older, earn up to $75K, these folks can claim a $6500 tax deduction. Our typical client would not benefit from this tax deduction at all.

This senior tax deduction is another way of transferring wealth to older, wealthier folks, and short shifting the young. Contrast the $6500 senior tax deduction with the $200 dollar increase in childcare tax deduction from $2000 to $2200 per year. I thought we loved our children. In Virginia, the average infant childcare cost is $14k per year, about $11K for a four-year-old. Overall, these types of tax breaks will accelerate the depletion of the Social Security Trust Fund. Basically, now 2033.

The bill is big, but it is not beautiful, it is damn ugly, like the spaghetti western, the good, the bad and the ugly. Mostly the latter two. It attacks the poor, marginalizes working class women, and transfers immense wealth to the upper classes, leaving many to struggle mightily for safe housing, food security, and access to health care. About 60 percent of the bill’s financial benefits will go to 20 percent of the population. 12 million folks will lose access to health care insurance. Millions of working-class folks will lose access to food aid because of “paperwork barriers” designed to reduce the number of enrollees. Yet, with these “savings” we are going to build a police state through $150 billion in increased funding for DHS agents and a trillion-dollar defense budget.

Our 5^th Congressional District representative John McGuire voted for the bill and issued an ingratiating, bootlicking, suck-up press release fit for North Korea, not America, on the cusp of 250 years of independence from Kings. Like a sucker fish on a shark, McGuire is attached to Trump’s big, beautiful orange ass.

The Second Amendment and the Seizure of California’s National Guard

“The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country: but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.”

Initial proposition that would become the Second Amendment

Several weeks ago under the pretext of executive power and spurious claims of out of control wide-spread protests and violence, Trump seized California’s National Guard and turned it on the citizens of Los Angeles. Protest is not insurrection or rebellion; it is the fight to assemble and protest government actions and policies. Local police authorities in Los Angels City and County have tens of thousands of officers and the capability and will to control any lawlessness by a minority of protestors.

California sued. The initial ruling in federal court was that the activation of the California National Guard was illegal. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stayed the ruling almost immediately and recently ruled that Trump may continue to to retain control of the California National Guard while the State’s lawsuit continues. California did not make a second amendment argument, but I think it should have. I argue that Trump’s seizure of the California National Guard is a fundamental violation of the Second Amendment’s original intent.

The first federal Congress in 1789, fearing the possibility of one day having a despotic central government, wanted to amend the Constitution to restrict the federal government’s ability to strip state militias of the ability to ‘bear arms’ (among other things). That is essentially the states’ abilities to individually or collectively resist a repressive federal government. California’s National Guard is just such a well-regulated militia.

By seizing the California National Guard and deploying it against the wishes of the governor, Trump took away California’s right to defend itself from a despotic and corrupt President and central government. Adding insult to injury, active-duty Marines were also deployed to Los Angeles.

If you read the Congressional debates and follow the revisions surrounding the Second Amendment, the original intent of the Second Amendment was to prohibit the federal government from seizing or disbanding state militias. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has so mangled and distorted the amendment in the past decades that the second amendment’s original intent is unrecognizable.

On June 8, 1789 — 236 years ago this month — James Madison introduced nine propositions or resolutions for amending the Constitution. From these propositions the House of Representatives would derive 17 amendments, of which, ten would eventually become what is known as the Bill of Rights. Way down the list, buried in proposition four, after statements about religious freedom, freedom of speech and press, the right to peaceable assembly and petitioning for redressing of grievances, Madison, proposed what would become the second amendment.

The Annals of Congress contains the record of the running debates surrounding the amendments to the Constitution and reflect contemporaneous conceptions of the meanings of these amendments, and how they changed over the debates. Madison, borrowing from the other state constitutions and even the 1689 English Bill of Rights, proposed the following language regarding the right to bear arms (House Records, pp. 451-452):

Madison’s propositions did not gain much traction in Congress. Members of Congress were more concerned with the mechanics of setting up a functioning government. The debates preceding and surrounding the discussions on the proposed amendments centered on funding mechanisms and structure of the various executive departments being contemplated. Madison nonetheless persisted, and on July 21 requested further consideration of the amendments. After “desultory” conversation on the amendments, they were referred to a committee of eleven, which included Madison.

Just short of a month later, the committee of eleven finished their work on the proposed amendments and presented them to the House of Representatives on August 17. Madison’s language on bearing arms was revised and read:

“A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; but no person religiously scrupulous shall be compelled to bear arms (House Records, p.778)

Eldridge Gerry of Massachusetts, a veteran of the constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787, and who was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution at the end of the convention, led the debate regarding the amendment to bear arms. His remarks are crucial, I think to understanding, the intent of this amendment. He states:

“This declaration of rights, I take it, is intended to secure the people against the mal-administration of the Government; if we could suppose that, in all cases, the rights of the people would be attended to, the occasion for guards of this kind would be removed (p. 778).”

Not one person during the debate contradicted or challenged Gerry’s assertion, which seems to state that the ability to keep and bear arms referred to the people’s ability to form militias as a collective defense against a tyrannical central government. The remainder of the debate that day on this amendment surrounded primarily the question of religious scruples and service in the militia.

After more “desultory” (I love that word) conversation, 17 proposed amendments to the Constitution were sent to the Senate on August 24. The bearing arms amendment was number 5 and read after some minor tweaking (Senate record, pp. 63-64):

“A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed, but no one religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person.”

On September 4, the senate, whose records of debate are not as detailed as the House’s records of debate, showed that senators objected to a few of the amendments, but without comment as to why. “On the motion to adopt the fifth article of the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives, amended to read as followeth: ‘a well regulated militia, being the best security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed:’ It passed in the affirmative” (Senate Record, p. 71).

That senate version is today’s second amendment.

Trump’s actions run counter to the second amendment and are provocative and meant to inflame the citizens of Los Angeles and California. He deliberately and recklessly tried to provoke a larger conflict and failed. Now, instead of quelling protests, they are being used as an occupying army – with police powers – to accompany militarized ICE agents.

It is not a good sign of democratic health when federal law enforcement agents dress and act like soldiers and the military act like police officers. The stark historical difference between civilian police and the military are dangerously blurred and will eventually disappear. For a president who increasingly sees military action as a solution to both domestic – blue states — and overseas issues we will witness an increase of National Guard activations and deployments to suppress domestic opposition soon I fear.

If the Supreme Court sides with Trump, how will we, denizens of Virginia, defend itself from Trump’s provocations, corruption, and illegalities when Abigail Spanberger is elected governor this November and Virginia becomes a State with a blue governor?

No Kings Protest, Richmond, Virginia, June 14, 2025: A photo journal

Tom’s Report on the State of America’s Democratic Health: Fake Research Papers, Windmills, and Wildebeests

As of May 30, 2025

Benchmarks of Democratic Backsliding and Erosion

Trump’s personal battle of evermore with Harvard continues, with the administration banning foreign students from enrolling at Harvard and then a federal court issuing a temporary injunction. Trump further ordered a freeze on all federal government contracts with Harvard, putting on ice about $100 million in funds. This includes several hundred grants for medical research.

But who cares about real medical research when you can just make it up. Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy released a report on Making America Healthy Again (MAHA). The report however, is riddled with problems, primarily that many scientific studies referenced in the report do not exist. Yes, they were made up, fabricated. Additionally, the FDA issued a statement opining that pregnant women and healthy children do not need COVID vaccinations. Two issues, one, normally the Centers for Disease control makes vaccination recommendations, not the FDA, and two, pregnant women are at greater risk for bad outcomes from COVID infections, the science says. Sadly, after Kennedy’s intentions were made clear, the CDC followed suit. So, here we have it. Science based policy decisions are thing of the past. It’s Kennedy’s magical mystery tour.

The Department of Justice announced FBI investigations into several old closed cases. 1) They will reinvestigate pipe bombs left at the Democratic and Republican offices on January 6, you know the day Trump attempted a coup. Conservative conspiracy theories are that the FBI planted them. 2) The Dobbs Supreme Court leak will also be reinvestigated. My guess the “investigative results” it will be used to impeach one of the three remaining liberal justices. 3) During the Biden administration, a bag of cocaine was found and the FBI will reopen that investigation. This follows previous weeks of charging a democratic house member with assaulting a federal agent, dragging former FBI Director James Comey before investigators for allegedly threatening Trump by posting a number on line: 8647, and investigate New York’s Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud.

Regarding foreign affairs, the U.S. Trade Court ruled this week that Trump’s global tariff regime was unconstitutional and that he overstepped his authority to issue such blanket global tariffs. An appeals court promptly stayed the Trade Court’s ruling until that court can weigh in early June. I imagine it will end up in the Supreme Court. It is anyone’s guess how that will end given the court’s propensity to hand over more and broader executive powers to Trump, basically fatally undermining the fundamental structure of separate and equal branches of government.

Meanwhile, Trump in a Friday missive lashed out at China for violating a ‘trade truce’ pending resolution of negotiations, which according to America’s negotiator, has stalled. I imagine he will have TACOs for lunch later this week. This lashing of China comes on the heels of the administrations announcement that it was reviewing visas issued to China. Trump is reimagining the America’s 19^th Century “Chinese Exclusion Act.”

Not to be outdone, Rubio’s State Department, announced a new policy targeting foreign government official that allegedly censor social media. The intent of the policy is to target Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Morae, who has made rulings against the social media company X and Elon Musk. This will no doubt alienate one of our largest partners in South America. I guess Putin and Orban and other foreign government officials that censor social media will be target. Just joking.

Meanwhile, after condemning social media censors, the Department of State announced a freeze on foreign student visas pending the imposition of “expanded” social media reviews to detect anti-American or antisemitic posts. I guess our censorship is a different type of censorship, no?

In sum, Trump is picking a fight-to-the- death confrontation with Harvard, basically summoning all the coercive control levers of federal executive power. As I see it, Trump thinks that if he slays Harvard, the rest of academia will quickly surrender. He may be right. I expect him to ratchet up the pressure in the coming weeks.

China is another case of Trump tilting at windmills. I understand our strategic need to address China as an economic competitor – one that is kicking our butts, especially in technology – and a potential peer military opponent, but I just don’t see a comprehensive, well thought out strategy. For instance, on one hand he said he is imposing tariffs on China (and around the world) to bring manufacturing back to America. Yet, in the ‘big, beautiful bill,’ all the billions in investments in American clean energy domestic manufacturing is being killed. It makes no strategic sense.

Trump’s policies and management of foreign and domestic affairs are helter-skelter, undisciplined, score settling, and a way to line his and his family’s pockets with millions. An like a herd of wildebeests charging headlong in to a crocodile infested river, the Republican party follows.

Finally, so long Elon.

Tom’s Report on the State of America’s Democratic Health: Ugly, Damn Ugly

As of May 23, 2025

Benchmarks of Democratic Backsliding and Erosion

It was an ugly week. First and foremost was Trump’s vile and disgraceful racist spectacle directed at South African President Ramasphosa during a White House visit. Given the long history of English and Dutch colonization and brutal oppression of black South Africans during the apartheid era, the false claim that white Afrikaners are being subjected to a genocide was shameful. The supposed evidence — a video of white crosses — was from the Congo not South Africa. This spectacle was the most openly white nationalist display by an American president since President Wilson screened “Birth of a Nation” at the White House in 1915. A movie based on the novel “The Clansman.”

The battle between Harvard and Trump escalated this week with the administration banning foreign students from enrolling at Harvard. The next day Harvard filed suit, and a Federal Judge ordered a temporary pause on the administration’s action. This escalation is another example of Trump’s use of ‘arbitrary terror’ to punish and discipline supposed adversaries. A hallmark of dictatorships.

Trump also singled out Bruce Springsteen, Beyonce, and Oprah Winfrey for investigation, alleging violations of federal laws. Without any proof, he accused them of accepting payment to endorse political candidates. When Trump suggests an investigation, whether verbally or on social media, one of his willing cabinet members orders one.

When not accusing others of corruption, Trump hosted an event at his Washington Area golf club to reward top investors in his crypto coin $Trump. The 220 top investors averaged around $1.8 million in purchases. According to press reporting, since January Trump garnered over $320 million in fees from these sales. Yep, $320 million in six months.

Speaking of slimy, swampish, Trumpian corrupt practices, his majesty accepted a $400 million emolument from the Qatari crown prince in the form of a 747-luxury jet. It will be used as Air Force One and then provided to Trump’s presidential library foundation for his personal use. Given the overhaul required to ensure it is 1) air worthy, and, 2) not full of electronic eavesdropping devices, it will also require extensive renovations to install secure communications, anti-aircraft missile countermeasures, and hardening for electromagnetic pulses from nuclear detonations. More of your hard-earned tax dollars going to feed Trump’s massive ego. Pure waste, fraud, and abuse.

On the criminal investigative front, following an incident at a New Jersey ICE detention facility, federal prosecutors’ charged U.S. House of Representative LaMonica Mclver with assaulting a federal agent. James Comey, former FBI Director, was interviewed by the Secret Service for allegedly making threats to the president after posting a picture of seashells arranged to spell 8647. ‘86’ being a code for killing someone allegedly. However, if you look at the origins of ‘86’ it is a code for ejecting or barring some from a bar, or, to cancel, reject, discard something, per the dictionary.

Also, the DOJ confirmed it is investigating New York’s Attorney General Letitia James for mortgage fraud. Must have turned over every rock of find that one. Finally, the FCC announced a probe into Media Matters, a liberal advocacy group. This based on Elon Musk’s accusation that the group colluded with advertisers to boycott X for racism. Meanwhile, Mohammed Khalil and Abrego Garcia still sit in jail.

Before turning to some positives, I think the whole Biden fiasco needs a few short words. What was the democratic party leadership thinking? We don’t need a book to tell us what we all knew. It wasn’t Biden’s age; it was his noticeable and serious cognitive decline. His physical fragility and intellectual frailty were clear. When I voted for Biden in 2020, I thought of him as a one term president. He should have bowed out two years in and announced he would not seek a second term. But no. His damn ego got in the way. And a bunch of spineless democrats let him get away with it.

As a result, here we are. What is done is done, however, and now is the time to get your shit together. First focus on getting Spanberger elected governor of Virginia this November. It will be a bellwether. Second, focus on mid-terms and the races you can win. For instance, John McGuire (R) of Virginia’s 5^th congressional district is an easy mark given his capitulation to Trump and his support for rolling back Medicaid, Medicare, and food aid, while lining the pockets of millionaires and billionaires. Enough said.

There were some positive notes. In a tie vote at the Supreme Court, after Justice Barrett recused herself, the Louisiana Supreme Court’s decision to not permit a religious-based charter school to receive taxpayer funds, stands. Additionally, a federal judge ruled that shutting down and dismantling the U.S. Institute for Peace was illegal. The judge even ordered DOGE not to trespass on the grounds of the Institute.

Overall, Trump amped up the use of ‘arbitrary terror’ to punish, discipline, and silence dissent. That is to create a climate of fear where most people, as Hannah Arendt wrote in The Origins of Totalitarianism in the aftermath of World War II, are “perfectly obedient” to government dictates.

If you think about it, a plurality of Americans live in an autocratic state now. A state of mind, that is. House Republican hold outs to the ‘big, beautiful bill’ were summoned to the White House. I don’t think tea and crumpets persuaded them to abandon their principles. It you are obedient to Trump’s impulses out of fear, you already live in an autocracy. I am not speaking to liberals or progressives; I am speaking to MAGA Republicans. It is you that live in an autocracy. I am as free as bird and think, say, and write what I damn well please.

If you want to read the cumulative list of democratic backsliding and erosion since January 20, click up top ‘Benchmarks’ or menu. Thanks.

Tom’s Report on the State of America’s Democratic Health

As of May 9, 2025

I apologize for skipping a week (or two), but was traveling out of town. I also needed a short mental holiday.

The courts are doing their job for the most part. Congress….not so much.

A federal Judge ordered the release of detained Turkish PhD student Rumeysa Ozturk, who is attending Tuft’s University on a student visa, following the submission of a Writ of Habeas Corpus. In its usual measured response to adverse court orders, Trump advisor Stephen Miller said the White House is actively considering revoking the Writ of Habeas Corpus for ‘migrants.’ The Constitution clearly states that the writ may not be suspended “unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it.” Please see my earlier April 2 essay on Habeas Corpus for a more in-depth discussion on the writ.

In another ruling, a federal judge in San Francisco issued a temporary pause on DOGE’s bulldozing of government agencies and mass firings. Congress did not authorize such activity, per the judge: “As history demonstrates, the President may broadly restructure federal agencies only when authorized by Congress.”

In further court activity regarding Abrego Garcia, who was wrongly detained and deported to El Salvador’s terrorism prison, government lawyers are once again stonewalling the Federal Judge overseeing the case. Government lawyers invoked the ‘State Secrets Privilege.’ This privilege (a Supreme Court invention) lets the government withhold information from a court during civil litigation if the information could damage national security. Unless the information the government lawyers have contain military invasion plans of El Salvador, it is a bullshit ploy. And they know it. Start throwing these bums in jail Judge! Maybe Alcatraz?

Overall, there has been a slight lull in the war on the Constitution, but I think that is because Trump is busy cleaning up his self inflicted tariff mess. If his nomination of Fox host and TV pundit Jeannie Pirro to be the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia — replacing the outgoing interim U.S. Attorney who can’t get confirmed — is any indication, the war on decency and rule of law is entering a new low point. She has not worked in the law field in over two decades and her only previous experience was at a local elected judge and then local prosecutor in the early 90s. She will also be the 23rd Fox News personality to get a Trump administration job.

I imagine as the American economy stalls and the U.S. becomes increasingly isolated as a global pariah, Trump will double down on his autocratic tendencies. He pretty much has usurped Congress’ authority, now he needs to go hard and fast after independent new organizations. I expect to see a slew of FCC preliminary investigative reports and license revocations within the next month or two.

Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments: How The Supreme Court, Trump, and the Far Right intend to undermine the First Amendment

The Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments whether Oklahoma state tax dollars must be used to fund religious-based charter schools. The state denied a Catholic Church school’s request for public funding. During the arguments, most justices seem inclined to require that states provide taxpayer dollars to religious charter schools, if they meet all the other charter school requirements. If the Court decides to require public funds go to support religious-based charter schools, this would be a fundamental reinterpretation of the 1^st Amendment, what Thomas Jefferson called the “wall of separation” between church and state in his 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association.

I don’t think it a coincidence that a week or so after the Supreme Courts’ arguments, Trump signed an executive order establishing a “Religious Liberty Commission.” The purpose of the commission is outlined in the instructions:

“The Commission shall produce a comprehensive report on the foundations of religious liberty in America, the impact of religious liberty on American society, current threats to domestic religious liberty, strategies to preserve and enhance religious liberty protections for future generations, and programs to increase awareness of and celebrate America’s peaceful religious pluralism. Specific topics to be considered by the Commission under these categories shall include the following areas: the First Amendment rights of pastors, religious leaders, houses of worship, faith-based institutions, and religious speakers; attacks across America on houses of worship of many religions; debanking of religious entities; the First Amendment rights of teachers, students, military chaplains, service members, employers, and employees; conscience protections in the health care field and concerning vaccine mandates; parents’ authority to direct the care, upbringing, and education of their children, including the right to choose a religious education; permitting time for voluntary prayer and religious instruction at public schools; Government displays with religious imagery; and the right of all Americans to freely exercise their faith without fear or Government censorship or retaliation.”

While the language seems religion neutral, we all know this is about Christian religious freedoms and establishing Christianity as America’s established religion. I don’t see Islamic or Buddhist or Hindu religious imagery being displayed next to the Ten Commandments at public schools. Do you? Be very afraid. Our founding generation was fearful of the establishment of a religious state. This fear animated two of Virginia’s most influential writers and thinkers: James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

When Virginia’s General Assembly wanted to impose a ‘religious assessment,’ basically a tax to support churches, Madison and Jefferson opposed the measure. As did the Baptist’s who suffered intolerable abuse by the Anglican Church prior to the Revolution. In the “Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments” Madison penned a cogent argument that is a relevant today as it was in 1785.

I think it one of the seminal documents in our history as both Virginians and Americans. As such, I have summarized Madison’s 15 key arguments below. They are worth a close read.

Religious liberty was “in its nature an unalienable right….because the opinions of men, depending only upon the evidence contemplated by their own minds, cannot follow the dictates of other men…. Religion is wholly exempt from the cognizance [of civil society].”
“Since civil society itself had not right to interfere with religion, certainly the legislature, its creature, had no such right.”
“It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment on our liberties… Who does no see that the same authority which can establish Christianity, in exclusion of all other Religions, may establish with the same case any particular sect of Christians, in exclusion of all other sects?”
“The exercise of religion implies the right to believe in no religion at all, so even the most permissive tax to support religion might violate some consciences.”
“Civil magistrates can properly neither judge religious truth nor subordinate religion to public purposes.”
The Christian religion did not need civil support, it had often “existed and flourished, not only without the support of human laws, but in spite of every opposition from them.”
“’Ecclesiastical establishment,’ far from promoting religious purity and efficacy, had nearly always corrupted and stultified it.”
“Rather than promoting order and freedom in civil society, religious establishments had ordinarily been malignant and oppressive.”
“The assessment marked a first step toward bigotry, differing from the ‘inquisition…in degree,’ and would make Virginia no longer the asylum for the persecuted.”
“Good and useful citizens would be driven from the state or deterred from coming there by a religious tax.”
“Religious strife and violence would be encouraged by laws touching religion.”
“The policy of the bill is adverse to the diffusion of the light of Christianity…. The bill with an ignoble and unchristian timidity would circumscribe it, with a wall of defence, against the encroachment of error.”
“An attempt to enforce a religious assessment obnoxious to many citizens would weaken respect for law and order generally.”
“Evidence was strong that a majority of the people opposed the assessment.”
“Because, finally, the equal right of every citizen to the free exercise of his Religion according to the dictates of conscience is held by the same tenure with all our other rights…. Either we must say, that they may control the freedom of the press, may abolish trial by jury, may swallow up the Executive and Judiciary powers of the State, may that they may despoil us of our very right to suffrage and erect themselves into an independent and hereditary assembly: or we must say, that they have no authority to enact into law the Bill under consideration.”

The Bill did not pass and a year later, Jefferson’s Statute for Religious freedom passed into law. We must remain vigilant against trespasses against the 1^st Amendment. It is the cornerstone of why religiosity thrives in America. It is the absence of state control in public spaces that permits churches, and mosques and synagogues and tabernacles and temples to spread and flourish across this country.

“Hands Off” Louisa, Virginia Rally

As part of nation-wide Hands Off protests and rallies, residents of Louisa, Virginia, assembled at the Court House steps this Saturday to add their voices to a growing chorus across America, and the world, excoriating Trump’s attacks on democracy.

Organized by the Louisa County Democratic Party, the rally was one of the largest gatherings, as I understand it, in memory. The diverse and enthusiastic participants focused on wide ranging issues: Constitutional rights, Education, Healthcare, Human and Civil Rights, Immigration, Justice, LGBTQ rights, Social Security, and Veteran Services. This wasn’t a one issue rally.

Speeches, songs, and chants filled the Court Houses front steps from noon to two. Homemade signs expressed patriotism and anger. A number of speakers derided Trump’s attacks on democracy and also on our congressional district’s representative John McGuire (R) lack of honesty and integrity in the face of constituent questions.

Speakers repeatedly called to protect social security, medicare, and medicaid –which assists Americas most vulnerable populations — from being cut to fund trillions in taxes cuts for the millionaire class. Boos and catcalls followed mentions of Trump’s tariffs. One speaker addressed the serious threats to veterans and their health services because of massive layoffs and program cuts at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Trump, Musk, and McGuire the villains of the day.

A number of participants volunteered to speak to the assembled crowd. One told of his still living mom’s experiences in Nazi occupied France — she was 11 when they invaded — and her fear that America is heading towards fascism. I can relate to that as my mom and her family lived under Nazis occupation as well. She sees parallels today.

Tom’s Report on the State of America’s Democratic Health

As of April 4, 2025

Weekly Summary of Democratic Backsliding and Erosion

Trump’s pace has slowed but the damage to liberal democracy continues to accumulate, like DDT did in Bald Eagles once. I mention the tariffs now, not because they are a backsliding of liberal democracy, but as they fail and economic chaos engulfs us, Trump will become more erratic and authoritarian thus accelerating the erosion of democratic values and norms.

I would also be wary of federal government economic data. The Departments that report the data, and offices that compile economic and labor data sets, are firmly in Trump’s hand. Any bad economic data, I fear will be subjected to Trump’s SHARPIE statistical methodology.

On the positive side, the lower courts for the most part are holding firm. There is the possibility that the judge overseeing the Venezuelan deportation case will hold the Trump administration in contempt this coming week. Stay tuned. Appeal Courts also seem leery of the constitutionality of many of Trump’s executive orders. As a reminder, written arguments for sustaining a pause on Trump’s Birthright citizenship order are due soon.

Below is this week’s summary. To see the cumulative backsliding list click the benchmark or menu link above.

Diagnosis: Critical.

Prognosis: Uncertain

Military Loyalty Tests

Trump fires General Timothy Haugh and Wendy Noble, Chief and Deputy Chief of the National Security Agency, America’s critical signals intelligence agency. As a reminder, the NSA is forbidden by law from technical eaves dropping on American citizens.

They were fired at the request of right-wing pundit Laura Loomer for not being sufficiently ‘loyal’ to Trump: Loomer posted on X they were fired for being disloyal to Trump. Trump in a statement on AF1 heading to Florida, stated people will be fired because we don’t like them or “people that may have loyalties to someone else.” As the robot in the mid-60s ‘Lost in Space’ TV used to sa, with arms flailing about: “Danger, Danger, Will Robinson.”

These firings come after the firing of several National Security Council Staff earlier in the week, also worryingly at the behest of Laura Loomer. Press reports indicate Haugh testified in a closed hearing recently and was asked about the Signal scandal.

Whether the President was angry at Haugh for not giving the party line regarding Signal is unknown but the most likely cause for the firings. Nonetheless, Trump may have been looking for a reason to fire Haugh and Noble. Not saying Trump ordered Haugh and Noble to eaves drop on American politicians and others, but that option certainly is a possibility given the rogue nature of these first months of his administration. Frankly, I ask why and how a right-wing pundit with no security clearances may have knowledge of Haugh’s closed door testimony to the Senate. And even more worrisome, why the hell is Trump having sensitive national security discussions with her.

Continued Human and Civil Rights Violations

ICE admits wrongfully detaining Maryland man, says they can’t return him to US from El Salvador prison. Calling it an “administrative error.” Worse, they say they can’t get him back. This man from Maryland — married to an American, and father of a 5-year-old autistic child — was rounded up as part of the Trump’s press event, AKA the mass deportation of Venezuelan gang members. He was deported back to El Salvador, a country he fled because of gang threats without due process.

Rise of the Government Informer Class

Vigilante surveillance of pro-Palestinian activists on university campus(es). Pro-Israeli activists are using AI facial recognition to identify and report pro -Palestinian activists/protestors to ICE for deportation, per NBC reporting. The AI facial recognition was developed for this purpose. A far-right group — Betar USA –claimed credit for one arrest, per WGBH reporting.

Acts of Cowardice Continue

In an act cowardice and self-censorship, the White House Correspondents Association cancelled comedian Amber Ruffin’s appearance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, stating that they had “unanimously decided we are no longer featuring a comedic performance this year.” This ends a 42-year history.

To avoid executive orders sanctioning them, several more law firms reached agreements with the White House, to include the law firm Wilkie Farr and Gallagher that Kamal Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, works for. They offered up $100 million in pro bono work for Trump priorities to avoid possible executive order sanctions. Through these dragnets, Trump has almost garnered a quarter billion dollars in pro bono legal work for Trump initiatives.

New Punitive Investigations

The FCC began an investigation into ABC’s DEI practices. ABC is part of Disney.

Destroying Civil Society and a blow to Labor Unions

Tens of thousands of additional federal employee layoffs announced. In addition, Trump bans federal government unions collectively bargaining ability. Agencies included in the ban are the Departments of State, Defense, Veterans Affairs, Energy, Health and Human Services, Treasury, Justice and Commerce and the part of Homeland Security responsible for border security. Police and firefighters will continue to collectively bargain. Another blow to labor unions.

Per CBS, senior officials at NIH terminated or reassigned: “Senior leaders at multiple agencies were removed, multiple health officials said, including Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo. Marrazzo replaced Dr. Anthony Fauci as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. At the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, senior officials put on leave and reassigned to the Indian Health Service include Dr. Karen Hacker, head of the agency’s chronic disease teams, Kayla Laserson, head of its global health center and Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s STD and HIV/AIDS center.”

In a new executive order, President Trump targeted the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), the federal agency charged with distributing Congressionally approved funds to state libraries and to library, museum, and archives program grant recipients. The National Endowment for the arts was also targeted for layoffs and funding cuts.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: