The founding fathers wrote a Constitution that was to be the cornerstone of our republic, without it's strictly enforced procedures and guidelines they felt that their new nation could not survive for long. These men formed this rule book for democracy based on their experiences with power and how it easily corrupts those who possess it.
Based on their knowledge of the evils that can erupt from concentrated power, they set forth to limit any one person or entity being able to amass that concentration. They chose to divide that power between 3 different branches of government, they are as follows;
1. EXECUTIVE: This would include the President, Vice President, and their respective cabinet appointees, ie the Secretaries of State, Defense, Interior, etc. The executive branch is responsible for foreign affairs, and as the name implies, executing the laws that govern the nation, as well as forming public and foreign policies. The executive branch cannot enact any laws on its own, they can only enforce the laws that exist.
2. LEGISLATIVE: This branch would be comprised of the Senate, and the House of Representatives, together commonly referred to as the Congress. They are the ones responsible for enacting all laws of the land, as well as having the sole power to declare war. The Congress is also in charge of approval of all government funding budgets. The Senate is comprised of 100 members, 2 from each state, the Vice President acts as President of the Senate, but only votes if their is a tie, otherwise he is not afforded a vote on any bills. The House of Representatives has members that represent particular geographical districts in the U.S. These districts are divided up into population groups to ensure that everybody in the country gets fair and equal representation in Washington D.C. Potential legislation gets debated and approved or rejected separately in both houses, if approved the legislation goes to the President to either be signed into law, or vetoed. If a President vetoes a particular bill then it goes back to the Congress, if the Congress can attain a majority of 2/3rds of its members, then it can override that veto and become law.
3. JUDICIAL: This branch includes the Supreme court and all lower courts. The Supreme court is the only court required by the Constitution, all others are established by Congress. Their are currently 9 members of the court, 8 justices and 1 Chief justice, they are all appointed by the President, and must have their appointment confirmed by the Congress. Once confirmed, a federal court judge may only be removed from the bench by impeachment or criminal conviction. This is done to ensure that the justices are free from political pressures in order to be unbiased in their decisions. This branch of government was designed to be specifically non political.
The current Supreme court appears to be anything but non political, of the 9 justices on the court, 5 are established conservatives, and even though political agendas are not to be initiated or maintained in the decisions of the court, it is very apparent that key issues are being decided to facilitate some political agendas, namely, virtually striking down the voting rights act of 1965.
After the civil rights legislation was enacted in the early 60's, it was clear that the suppression of the black vote in certain states could only be ended by the federal government limiting the ability of those states to create illegal and unfair circumstances for those voters. The 1965 voting rights act required states that had a history of voter suppression to submit any proposed voting legislation changes to the Justice department for review before that state could enact it into law. Periodically the Congress reviewed and extended the voting rights act, in 2006 its extension was approved unanimously by the Senate, and by nearly all of the house of representatives. So why did the highest court in America decide that act was no longer needed?
In 2008 America overwhelmingly voted Democratic, even with gerry mandered Republican districting and voter suppression tactics employed, the GOP got their clock cleaned at the polls. They decided to put their tactics on steroids in 2010 and won back the house. They attempted the same strategy in the 2012 elections but the Democrats learned the lessons of 2010 and took to court every state that had voter suppression laws enacted. Most of those cases were won by the Democrats due to the 1965 voting rights act, the states enacted suppression laws without prior approval, thereby rendering them illegal, the result was that Obama was reelected, the Senate majority remained Democratic, and the GOP lost a number of seats in the house.
At this time the GOP is in a death spiral, its outdated message of hate and intolerance have repulsed many voters, its allegiance to big banks, big oil, and the elite 1% is so blatantly apparent that it's a national embarrassment, its candidate offerings consist of corrupt bigots and idiots whose only concern for the people is that they will believe the next round of bullshit they're being fed. Their arrogance have alienated them from all minority voters and most women voters. And instead of revamping and updating their political policies and platform, the GOP has decided that they will just keep on the same path, if they can't win the minority vote, then they will do everything possible to keep minorities from voting.
That's where the Supreme courts decision comes in, now that they declared section 4 of the voting rights act unneeded, it opens the gate for Republican led state legislators to pass laws inhibiting minority turnout. With all the evidence of attempted voter suppression witnessed in 2012, the Supreme court now says that suppression no longer exists and the law is not needed. If that isn't a totally political move by the conservative justices, then they are just so far removed from reality that they should be removed from power.
After allowing the citizens united case to succeed, and now removing the voter safeguards from the voter rights act, the conservative members on the Supreme court are displaying their true allegiance, not to you, me, or the Constitution of the United States. They are willingly breaking the sworn oath they have taken, and in true GOP fashion have told the people of America to fuck off. These arrogant bastards are a vile corruption of what the founding fathers had in mind for the highest court in the land.
The act has gone back to Congress for re-authorization of section 4, but what matters is that the supposed un-political court has again proven to be just another tool to be used by the GOP.
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Just like the towns who set up speed traps to get your money, these cops misuse the law to legally rob you of everything you have.
Our system is horribly broken, and I'm not sure it can be fixed. But I am sure of one thing, I'm sure that if this house of cards collapses, and society as we know it crumbles in pieces, then those people who had once been in power had better find a damn good hiding place, because you will be seeked out, and you absolutely will not want to be found.
