About the Blog …
If you are NOT receiving emails from me alerting
you each time there is a new posting on Jackspotpourri, just send me your email
address and we’ll see that you do. And if you are forwarding a posting to
someone, you might suggest that they do the same, so they will be similarly
alerted.
You can pass those email addresses to me by
emailing me at jacklippman18@gmail.com .
Recently added to the blog is a feature showing
one of my paintings. (Besides writing, I
also paint with acrylics for recreation.)
Right now, it features my latest work, but it will be periodically
revised to show earlier paintings. You
can find it off to the right on your desktop or tablet. It will be changed periodically.
JL
* * * *
 |
| Washington's Farewell Address Warned Us |
The Battle over ‘Independent State Legislatures’
The eventual decision in Moore vs. Harper, a case now
being considered by the Supreme Court, is vitally important to the survival of
democracy in the United States.
State legislatures, according to the Constitution, control the setting up of Congressional districts within their States. This has enabled them to ‘gerrymander’ district borders to favor the majority party in that legislature. Remember, at the time of the Constitution’s writing, political parties were not so partisan as they are today, so this was not something the Framers considered. But George Washington warned us about it, though, in his Farewell Address.
Right now, appeals of such ‘gerrymandering’ by
State legislatures are heard by State courts, the Supreme Court having earlier
ruled that this was a State matter and not something for Federal courts to
handle. Moore (who is the Republican
house speaker of the North Carolina legislature) vs. Harper will decide whether
such jurisdiction should be taken away from State courts, even if State laws
are the issue, because the districting involved is that of Congressional
districts, leaving it entirely to the State legislatures as the Constitution prescribes,
without any mention of State courts in this context.
(This is an ‘originalist’ position, the kind some
conservatives espouse, amounting to saying that ‘If it ain’t written in the
Constitution, fuggetiboudit,’ It is
being presented as the doctrine of ‘independent state legislature’ by such ‘originalists.’)
In explaining why much more than North Carolina’s Congressional
districts are involved in this case, highly respected conservative retired
judge Michael Luttig, whom you might remember as testifying before the January
6 Committee, in an Atlantic magazine article pointed out that the
Supreme Court’s decision may:
‘finally resolve whether there is
a doctrine of constitutional interpretation known as the “independent state legislature.” If the
Court concludes that there is such a doctrine, it would confer on state
legislatures plenary, exclusive, and judicially unreviewable power both to
redraw congressional districts for federal elections and to appoint state
electors who quadrennially cast the votes for president and vice president on
behalf of the voters of the states. It would mean that the partisan
gerrymandering of congressional districts by state legislatures would not be
reviewable by the state courts—including the states’ highest court—under their
state constitutions. Such a doctrine would be antithetical to the Framers’ intent,
and to the text, fundamental design, and architecture of the Constitution.’
The dangerous precedent that this case will
establish goes even further than permitting legislatures to ‘gerrymander’ and
select Electoral College members as pointed out by Judge Luttig. They could pass restrictive State laws on issues
held to be national matters such as voting rights, abortion rights, gun
violence, and protecting the environment, without their
actions being subject to review by State courts. It is
scant comfort that the Federal Courts have not abandoned these areas, as they
have with regard to ‘gerrymandering.’ State courts are important.
At this point, when this case was argued before
the Supreme Court last week, observers gleaned from the questioning and
attitudes of the Justices, that it seemed Justices Alito, Thomas, and Gorsuch
leaned toward legitimatizing this doctrine of ‘independent state legislature’
while Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson oppose doing so. Chief Justice Roberts, and Justices Barrett
and Kavanaugh appear to be ‘on the fence.’
I suspect the Supreme Court will come up with a compromise decision that
at a minimum, will only somewhat restrict State courts, which in this scenario,
appear to be the final defenders of democracy.
The Constitution
is, like a tasty slice of Swiss cheese, filled with holes through which foes of
democracy can slip, like the rats that can attack a piece of cheese left out
overnight.
JL
* *
* *
Why Georgia is Important
‘The Hill,’ published an excellent summary by
Brett Samuels on November 7, explaining the importance of the one additional
Senate seat that Raphael Warnock’s Georgia victory provided for the Democrats
and President Biden.
Read it at https://www.aol.com/news/four-ways-warnock-win-helps-172551885.html or by simply CLICKING HERE.
It justifies the efforts so many, including former
president Obama, made in Georgia, along with nationwide financial support of
donors to gain that Senate seat. Paired
with Senator John Fetterman’s victory in Pennsylvania, it may be more important
than the razor-thin edge the far-from-united Republicans have in the House of
Representatives.
Take a minute to read it. It is short.
JL
* *
* *
Why the Republican Party Will Not Rid Itself
of the Defeated Former President
Did you ever think that he’s like an addictive drug? Once started on it, it’s hard to shake. Read on.
In
many Congressional elections, the winner is determined by just a few percentage
points. A five percentage point
difference (for example, a 53% to 48% split) is often enough to decide the
winner. No candidate can afford to take
a position which will take a sizable chunk out their percentage of the votes.
Using the above example, let’s assume a Republican wins a House or Senate seat with 53% of the votes. But then, let’s see what happens if, conservatively, just ten percent of those voters would have deserted him if he had chosen to denounce the defeated former president for any reason, either staying home or voting for a third-party candidate.
Assuming 1,000,000 votes were cast, the numbers would look something like this:
If
the candidate continued to support the defeated former president:
Votes for the Republican – 530,000 - Votes for the Democrat – 480,000
Now take away 10% of the Republican’s votes, those of the solid, immovable, supporters of the defeated former president, no matter what he says or does, and the numbers would look like this:
Votes for the Republican – 477,000 - Votes for the Democrat – 480,000
To a greater or lesser extent, this is the problem Republican candidates for office face, and results in their closing their eyes to the defeated former president’s flaws. They can do the math. They cannot afford to lose his loyal supporters.
Thus,
Republican dependence on the defeated former president is a hard addiction to
shake. Well-meaning attempts to kick a
habit can cause withdrawal pain so severe that few can bear it (as Liz Cheney
does), leading them to abandon those efforts and just inject, snort, or however
use just one more dose of poison in order to get elected. And another.
And that is why the Republican Party will not rid itself of the defeated former president. They are addicted to the votes of his supporters, the keys to their victories.
(For
the past year, I have avoided mentioning the name of the defeated former
president on this blog. I could tell you
that I am doing so on the advice of my internist, who has me on
anti-hypertensive medication, but that would be a lie. I just don’t want to contaminate what I write
with his name.)
JL
* *
* *
A Holiday Season Story
Here’s a Thanksgiving Story, a bit belatedly,
which originally appeared on this blog on Nov. 27, 2011, although it appears I
had written it earlier. I think it is
worth repeating, although I doubt that the present Chinese government allows
such adoptions any longer.
‘Something To Believe In’ (From
Jack’s original short story archives)
Wang looked up in amazement at the gigantic balloons which floated down the avenue above the parade. Some were in the shapes of elephants and clowns and characters he recognized from the TV shows he had been watching. And the music! There were blaring bands from all over the country interspersed among the floats.
“But, Mom, what is this parade all about? Who are we
paying homage to?” the thirteen-year-old asked the middle-aged woman who held
his hand tightly. “I remember parades like this in China, but they were
always in honor of the Party or the working man. I know you have tried to
explain Thanksgiving to me, but who are we thanking? Where are the
leaders we should be cheering, like we did in Tiananmen Square on May Day?
“Wang,” she answered, “We are giving thanks for having the things which make our life so happy. You know, the food on our table, our clothes, the nice apartment we live in. Americans give thanks in many ways, some even thank God for what they have, but Wang, God personally won’t be part of the parade.” Max, on the boy’s other side, gave Louise a jaundiced look.
“Oh,” the boy replied. But it was clear that he was still confused. “You mean I won’t be seeing Jesus in the parade? He’s the one I usually thank for that kind of stuff. That’s what Reverend Lee taught us to do.”
“No, but if you want to be thankful to him, you can, Wang.”
When Louise and Max had gotten Wang from the Mission Adoption Society less than a month before, they had been told that the Mission people who had taught him English also converted him to Christianity, once they had gotten him out of China where proselyting was illegal. One of the things they had agreed to was to raise the boy as a Christian. Neither Louise nor Max really practiced any religion. They decorated a tree at Christmastime but had never set foot in a church in their entire lives. Max was born Jewish, but he lacked a religious background and was totally non-observant. Louise came from a family of atheists. So, when they paid the $25,000 adoption fee to the Mission Society, they didn’t object to agreeing to raise the boy as a Christian. And the Mission people didn’t really care. As far as Louise and Max were concerned, decorating a Christmas tree and hanging up a stocking Christmas Eve would suffice for his religious upbringing. But Wang’s constant questioning was getting to be a bother.
The parade was drawing to a close, and the level of tension was increasing. Wang felt it and didn’t know why, but suddenly, the final float of the parade came into view. Mounted on a sleigh pulled by eight animated reindeer, and waving to all, was Santa Claus, resplendent in his white-trimmed bright red outfit, his snow-covered beard cascading down over his chest. A loudspeaker boomed out his cries of “Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas to All! Ho, Ho, Ho,”
Wang’s eyes opened as wide as they could, as Santa rolled by their curbside position. The cheers were deafening.
“That’s Santa Claus. I saw him on the TV yesterday. Is he the one we thank for everything on Thanksgiving?”
This time Max answered him. “No, Wang. Santa may bring the gifts, but he isn’t the one who gets them for you in the first place.”
The boy looked puzzled. “If I shouldn’t be thanking Jesus or Santa for the gifts, should I be thanking you, Mom and Pop?”
“Well, sort of,” Louise replied, but obviously, she wasn’t happy with that answer and the thirteen-year-old wasn’t either.
“Look,” he said. “I know you two aren’t Christians, and until last year, I hadn’t even heard of Jesus. So whether or not I believe in him really doesn’t matter. I can take him or leave him. But now you’re telling me that I shouldn’t be thanking Santa either. This is sort of like what things were like in China. Everyone used to thank Mao for everything. Now, that was before my time, but then they told everybody to thank someone else, and finally, just thank the Communist Party, and that’s what I did in the orphanage, but that was okay since they ran the place. But who do I thank here in America? I certainly have a lot to be thankful for, what with you adopting me and all. I just don’t feel it’s enough to thank just you two for all you’ve done for me.
My God, Louise thought. Perhaps we should have waited for an infant, not this boy with his inquiring mind. Maybe he’ll end up being a scientist or something, she mused.
Later that night, in bed, she turned to Max. “Max, do you believe in some force that controls the universe, some original cause or something?”
“Like God, you mean? No … let’s leave it at some kind of power that started it all and forget the divinity part of it.”
“You’re more of an atheist than my Dad was, Dear,” Louise replied. “I’m beginning to think, if only for the boy, that we have to believe in something.” Max answered, “Well, Miss Atheist, you’re not going to get me involved with Jesus or back to the smelly old shuls I remember from Brooklyn. Let’s find something nice and non-religious to credit everything to and give that to the kid.” “At least then,” Louise continued, “He’ll have someone … or something … to thank on Thanksgiving.”
And so it was that Louise and Max joined an introspective philosophical group, which met in an apartment on the Upper West Side on Tuesday evenings, in the hope of learning some answers to the questions the boy was raising. Wang eventually started accompanying them to the meetings, and perhaps because of his Chinese background, quickly took to what was going on, and understood the discussions in perhaps greater depth than the adults there.
And he never again had to ask about whom to thank for the blessings which he received, but he did give great thought to whether the bounty he shared was indeed a blessing, or perhaps it should be looked at in another light. He loved to talk about these things with Louise and Max.
Louise was very happy with the outcome. Max turned to
vodka.
JL
* *
* *
And of course, please forward this posting to anyone you think
might benefit from reading it. The place
to send them is:
https://jackspotpourri.blogspot.com
It has come to my attention that Google Blogspot, the platform
on which Jackspotpourri is prepared, has revised its forwarding
abilities. If you click on the envelope with the arrow at the conclusion
of every posting, (it looks like this: 
), you will have the opportunity to list as
many email addresses as you wish, along with a comment from you, each of which
will receive a link to the full blog that you now are reading, with all of its
bells and whistles. This is a great advance from the very basic format Google
Blogspot originally provided when they forwarded something for you. It might take a few minutes longer for
your message to be transmitted but this method of forwarding offers the
advantage of being able to forward jackspotpourri to many addresses
simultaneously. Try it.
Either way will work, sending them the link above or clicking on the envelope at the bottom of this posting.
JL
* * * *
No comments:
Post a Comment