I’m not sure the vast majority of people quite understand what has happened here. Let’s revisit and keep in mind that old concept of the “slippery slope.”
This isn’t just a bad or corrupt decision. This is the end of the Supreme Court of the United States as a legitimate branch of government. This decision basically says the government can round up any “undesirable person” of any group it deems to be possibly engaging in any activity it chooses to deem unlawful, including your very existence. To my white heterosexual people out there: do you meet at the coffee shop on Saturday to discuss Anand’s new book? Who’s to say you aren’t contemplating engaging in activity to overthrow the present Trump regime? The government has determined you might be, so off to the detention center you go until (maybe) they can figure out “what the hell is happening here.” This is where this decision leads. Yes, it leads, even to you. Never mind, if you belong to any minority group whatsoever.
This decision is an absolute abomination! The short version is that the 4th Amendment means very little now. It is basically no longer worth the paper it is written on. I agree with Cecile Q. There have been so many decisions that have led us to the point of saying the Court is no longer a legitimate branch of government, but this one has definitely sealed the deal. "With fear for our democracy, I dissent!"
"Of course, if everyone is presumed guilty of being Other, no one meaningfully belongs."
This resonates deeply with what I used to cherish about being in this country - the promise America held of providing a home for those who had no home anywhere else, for whatever reason. That dream is rapidly turning into a nightmare.
Anand's succinct words were missed during his well deserved break. Glad he's back.
The supreme court is no longer the law of America. It is the law of trump. He knew when he chose them that they would always be on his side and they have not disappointed him. The constitution, which we all value so highly and these people have sworn to uphold, is now a shadow of its former self. The amendments are being ripped away piece by piece, one at a time. This ruling is the most frightening so far. No one is safe. I watch documentaries about how Hitler came to power and Nazi rule. The dialogue is sounding very much the same. Let me see your papers!
The only question to pose to the white supremacist, greedy, rubber-stamp-for -fascism court is, Who’s next? Which group will get sent to the concentration camp next?
The SC decision is a simple and clear example of racism. It is a public announcement that the United States government approves racism. A person is guilty until proven innocent based on where you work, where you walk or stand, where you live, who you associate with, what you drive, the color of your skin, what you wear and the language or accent you speak.
And how wealthy and influential you are. We are being divided two ways, by race, and by income. Three, if you count those people who will support this evil rather than stand against it.
Catherine, perhaps you misunderstood the intent of my comment. I totally condemn the SC decision. With this ruling the Court gave the authoritarian regime legal permission to exercise full-on racist behavior on our streets. It’s terrifying!
There may be a significant level of legal knowledge generally reflected in the behavior of Supreme Court justices, but yesterday revealed an alarmingly preadolescent level of social/emotional understanding for human experience shaping the cognitive capacities of the majority.
Reminds me of the final lines of Gil Scott-Heron's song Johannesburg, "Let me see, your ID. Let me see, your ID." That is what the US is starting to resemble. South Africa under apartheid, or Israel right now. How bad is it going to get. Hell, they haven't even found the bottom yet!
It's obviously as racist as it gets but what folks need to understand is that the MAGA(or MARA) Court is not doing Trump's authoritarian and dictatorial dirty work for him but rather it is Trump who all along has been anything but an empty vehicle used by an anti-constitutional and perverted 6-3 Supreme Court to accomplish its reactionary and regressive goals across the political, economic, social, and cultural landscapes, as I argue in my forthcoming and third Trump book completing my trilogy -- Regime Change, Authoritarian Treason, and the Outlaw-in-Chief: Presidential Donald Trump's Struggle to Kill U.S. Democracy & Realign American Global Power -- after the 2026 midterm elections.
The first book, Criminology on Trump (2022) and the second, Indicting the 45th President: Boss Trump, the GOP, and What We Can Do About the Threat to American Democracy (2024) published by Taylor & Francis's Rutledge can be secured from any place selling books including, of course, Amazon. Gregg Barak
We're in the same boat. We've briefly thought about getting a gun, but decided against it. It is, at least I hope it is, a red line for me. If that's the kind of world we're going to be in, then I'm going to be killed. I have no death wish, but I also don't want to live in that kind of world either.
@ Kirsten. Ironically, we left South Africa (and our ANC membership cards) because "we no longer wanted to live in Joburg without a gun under our pillows, but we no longer wanted to live in Joburg with a gun under our pillows, either."
This takes the definition of "good trouble" to another level entirely. Passively accepting roundups of people who may or may not be guilty of anything, is not sustainable. It is also not sustainable to pretend that some of us are never going to be targeted. I don't know what forms resistance will take but I know humanity. Resistance will happen. What a sad mess we are in.
So officially we have a SCOTUS-sanctioned 2-tier system where “building while being brown” gets you a face full of Enforcement while Being Fascist. 2 tiers is popular in a lot of paradigms: sheep & goats; us & them; friends & enemies; haves & have nots.
I still think we always need to train our eyes on the for-profit detention centers/prisons/internment camps and the oligarchs who own them. BC it wouldn’t be the kind of American capitalist fascism that I think it is if these people were quickly removed from the country. There is blood to be spilled and money to be made as sadism vies with avarice to expand the worst version of humanity we can muster.
I suggest sending the nay-sayers to the frontlines - the deranged 6 Alito, Thomas, Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch to LA, DC, and CHICAGO to LEAD ICE - no mask no gun nothing but in their SCOTUS robes - to discuss the issues of crime and roots of same.
I’m not sure the vast majority of people quite understand what has happened here. Let’s revisit and keep in mind that old concept of the “slippery slope.”
This isn’t just a bad or corrupt decision. This is the end of the Supreme Court of the United States as a legitimate branch of government. This decision basically says the government can round up any “undesirable person” of any group it deems to be possibly engaging in any activity it chooses to deem unlawful, including your very existence. To my white heterosexual people out there: do you meet at the coffee shop on Saturday to discuss Anand’s new book? Who’s to say you aren’t contemplating engaging in activity to overthrow the present Trump regime? The government has determined you might be, so off to the detention center you go until (maybe) they can figure out “what the hell is happening here.” This is where this decision leads. Yes, it leads, even to you. Never mind, if you belong to any minority group whatsoever.
The Court has fallen.
First they came for the ….
This decision is an absolute abomination! The short version is that the 4th Amendment means very little now. It is basically no longer worth the paper it is written on. I agree with Cecile Q. There have been so many decisions that have led us to the point of saying the Court is no longer a legitimate branch of government, but this one has definitely sealed the deal. "With fear for our democracy, I dissent!"
“Respectfully,’ I dissent” no longer fits the situation we now find ourselves in.
I do not disagree. I referenced the quote because it was that case that led us down this road.
Yes, I was concurring in your assessment.🙌
You are absolutely right ... respect is no longer owed!
"Of course, if everyone is presumed guilty of being Other, no one meaningfully belongs."
This resonates deeply with what I used to cherish about being in this country - the promise America held of providing a home for those who had no home anywhere else, for whatever reason. That dream is rapidly turning into a nightmare.
Anand's succinct words were missed during his well deserved break. Glad he's back.
The supreme court is no longer the law of America. It is the law of trump. He knew when he chose them that they would always be on his side and they have not disappointed him. The constitution, which we all value so highly and these people have sworn to uphold, is now a shadow of its former self. The amendments are being ripped away piece by piece, one at a time. This ruling is the most frightening so far. No one is safe. I watch documentaries about how Hitler came to power and Nazi rule. The dialogue is sounding very much the same. Let me see your papers!
The only question to pose to the white supremacist, greedy, rubber-stamp-for -fascism court is, Who’s next? Which group will get sent to the concentration camp next?
No one is safe.
The SC decision is a simple and clear example of racism. It is a public announcement that the United States government approves racism. A person is guilty until proven innocent based on where you work, where you walk or stand, where you live, who you associate with, what you drive, the color of your skin, what you wear and the language or accent you speak.
And how wealthy and influential you are. We are being divided two ways, by race, and by income. Three, if you count those people who will support this evil rather than stand against it.
Catherine, perhaps you misunderstood the intent of my comment. I totally condemn the SC decision. With this ruling the Court gave the authoritarian regime legal permission to exercise full-on racist behavior on our streets. It’s terrifying!
On the contrary--not a kind and gentle inquiry into one's status.
There may be a significant level of legal knowledge generally reflected in the behavior of Supreme Court justices, but yesterday revealed an alarmingly preadolescent level of social/emotional understanding for human experience shaping the cognitive capacities of the majority.
So it’s time that somebody investigates the immigration status of every single person that does the gardening for each Supreme Court justices homes.
Papers, please.
And while we are at it, let’s check the mortgages of all the homes of all the Supreme Court justices and their families and see what’s cooking there.
If someone did that, do you think the Supreme Court would rule that it’s illegal to find out this information on members of the Supreme Court?
And how would they explain it?
Just asking for a friend .
Reminds me of the final lines of Gil Scott-Heron's song Johannesburg, "Let me see, your ID. Let me see, your ID." That is what the US is starting to resemble. South Africa under apartheid, or Israel right now. How bad is it going to get. Hell, they haven't even found the bottom yet!
It's obviously as racist as it gets but what folks need to understand is that the MAGA(or MARA) Court is not doing Trump's authoritarian and dictatorial dirty work for him but rather it is Trump who all along has been anything but an empty vehicle used by an anti-constitutional and perverted 6-3 Supreme Court to accomplish its reactionary and regressive goals across the political, economic, social, and cultural landscapes, as I argue in my forthcoming and third Trump book completing my trilogy -- Regime Change, Authoritarian Treason, and the Outlaw-in-Chief: Presidential Donald Trump's Struggle to Kill U.S. Democracy & Realign American Global Power -- after the 2026 midterm elections.
The first book, Criminology on Trump (2022) and the second, Indicting the 45th President: Boss Trump, the GOP, and What We Can Do About the Threat to American Democracy (2024) published by Taylor & Francis's Rutledge can be secured from any place selling books including, of course, Amazon. Gregg Barak
To whom or where are we to turn? I have never owned or even shot a gun. Must I get one and go to a shooting range? Not yet but……
We're in the same boat. We've briefly thought about getting a gun, but decided against it. It is, at least I hope it is, a red line for me. If that's the kind of world we're going to be in, then I'm going to be killed. I have no death wish, but I also don't want to live in that kind of world either.
@ Kirsten. Ironically, we left South Africa (and our ANC membership cards) because "we no longer wanted to live in Joburg without a gun under our pillows, but we no longer wanted to live in Joburg with a gun under our pillows, either."
This takes the definition of "good trouble" to another level entirely. Passively accepting roundups of people who may or may not be guilty of anything, is not sustainable. It is also not sustainable to pretend that some of us are never going to be targeted. I don't know what forms resistance will take but I know humanity. Resistance will happen. What a sad mess we are in.
So officially we have a SCOTUS-sanctioned 2-tier system where “building while being brown” gets you a face full of Enforcement while Being Fascist. 2 tiers is popular in a lot of paradigms: sheep & goats; us & them; friends & enemies; haves & have nots.
I still think we always need to train our eyes on the for-profit detention centers/prisons/internment camps and the oligarchs who own them. BC it wouldn’t be the kind of American capitalist fascism that I think it is if these people were quickly removed from the country. There is blood to be spilled and money to be made as sadism vies with avarice to expand the worst version of humanity we can muster.
I suggest sending the nay-sayers to the frontlines - the deranged 6 Alito, Thomas, Roberts, Kavanaugh, Barrett, and Gorsuch to LA, DC, and CHICAGO to LEAD ICE - no mask no gun nothing but in their SCOTUS robes - to discuss the issues of crime and roots of same.
That would be bravery