By Dr. John E. Warren, Publisher
Our Constitution deliberately contains three branches of government. They are designed to provide checks and balances and they are what makes democracy work for “We the People.” But we, the people, have been removed from the equation when those like the President, the Senate and the Attorney General conspire to compromise the Constitution by consolidating the powers of each Branch of Government under one person.
Let’s be more specific. Article I of the Constitution gives the Legislative Branch – the Congress – composed of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the power to make laws. Article II of the Constitution gives the Executive Branch the power to carry out those laws, with the Congress retaining oversight and appropriation controls over the agencies under the Executive Branch. Article III gives the Judiciary authority over handling disputes, when they arise. Dispute between the actions of the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch over how their actions affect “We The People.”When the President and the Senate, under the leadership of Mitch McConnell, conspire to stack the U.S. Supreme Court with their judicial appointments absent any “true Advise and Consent” selection elements as required by the Constitution, representation of the people – which should be reflected in Court appointments – no longer exists. Hence, the concept of separation of powers as envisioned by the Founding Fathers is compromised.
The solution rests with “We the People.”
“We the People” must rise up and take control of those usurping the powers of the Constitution. In this case, we must use the coming November election to change the Executive Branch of Government by replacing Donald Trump as President, first and foremost.
Next, we must continue to change the Legislative Branch by retaining Democratic control of the U.S. House of Representatives and replacing those Republican Senators who have forsaken their Oath of Office to “Protect and Defend” the Constitution in exchange for an unwritten Oath to Mitch McConnell. To McConnell, the man, and not the institution to which they were elected by “The People.” We need the American people to contact the Republican Senators from each of our states to demand that they not vote to fill the Supreme Court vacancy before the election and installation of the President following this November 3rd election.
If Trump, God forbid, is re-elected, then he would be within the Constitutional right to represent “The People” in making his judicial appointment. It would be preceded by a hearing on such a nominee in the U.S. Senate which will have some new members as a result of “We the People” voting on such vacancies. Why is this so important in spite of the Pandemic? If Trump is allowed to use McConnell to place a third member on the U.S. Supreme Court, the judges will reflect a 6 to 3 conservative majority for generations to come. This means that the Court’s decisions on such issues as the Affordable Care Act with its pre-existing conditions coverage will be wiped out with no replacement offered by the Republicans in the Congress.
“We the People” lose. Decisions affecting a “woman’s right to choose”, labor issues and most laws granting power and relief to the people will then go in the direction of the interests of business and people of wealth. Like the billions of dollars under the CARES legislation that went to corporate America instead of healthcare providers and “We the People”.
For better understanding, the following example is offered. In 1896, the U.S. Supreme Court in Plessy vs. Ferguson decided that “Separate But Equal” would be the law of the land. It segregated Black people from Whites and created the “Jim Crow” culture that deemed Blacks inferior and not allowed to use public facilities with Whites on an equal basis as we do today. It took the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision to reverse that 1896 ruling and grant “Equal Protection of the Laws” as allowed under the 14th Amendment. 60 years. The protection did not exist at the time of the Plessy Decision by the Court. This is the difference between who sits on the Bench of the Supreme Court and what views they represent.
LET’S FLOOD THE U.S. SENATE WITH TELEPHONE CALLS AND EMAILS DEMANDING THAT THE WISHES OF THE LATE JUSTICE RGB CONCERNING HER VACANCY BE HONORED. WE OWE IT TO OURSELVES AND THE GENERATIONS TO COME.
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