A golden eagle, Supreme Court rulings, and one of the most dangerous days in modern American government.
At 3:29 this afternoon, the President of the United States, Donald J. Trump, sat alone behind the desk in the Oval Office. There were no Cabinet members standing behind him and no Republican lawmakers waiting to praise him or tell him how historic the moment was. Just the President of the United States, dressed in a dark blue suit, a crisp white dress shirt, and a bright “American flag red” tie with an American flag pin fastened neatly to his lapel. Only hours earlier, the Supreme Court had handed him one of the most dangerous expansions of presidential power in nearly a century, a decision one justice warned gave the presidency authority "unknown even to the English Crown." And with all of that new power resting beneath his firmly clasped hands, Donald Trump spent fourteen minutes of his afternoon signing an executive order about the right to repair cars, presenting it as part of his effort to make life more affordable for American families.
Fantastic Canadian! Well said Joni! Well, and, Joni was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as was I. Saskatchewan people are very traditionally special and we SO understand - each other and just regular people. It’s a loyalty that we have, no matter where in the world we are. Thank you for the opportunity to shout a praise on the back of Randy’s comment and Joni Mitchell!
As I posted on Professor HCR substack about the SCOTUS decision today….
This decision is ghastly. Independent agencies are intended to protect the public with experts at the helm, not a loyalist that buys into the mob for a job and protection. The corruption is putrid.
When expertise from these agencies are replaced with a loyalist who suffers? The American people…
From the list supplied by legal analyst Barb McQuade. Here’s just one - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent U.S. government agency that protects your money and maintains stability in the nation's banking system. It insures bank deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, and regulates banks to ensure they are operating safely. Now per this ruling there’s No longer a need to have any experts at the head of this agency. Totally voided of any experts.. just some loyalists….
How’s everyone feeling about their money in the banks with a loyalist heading up the FDIC and no experts around? Because the loyalist can hire their own cronies to fill the jobs within the agency…
As per Greg Sargent, his words, “He thinks corruption is the highest form of winning.” Then proceeds to say. “his supporters are supposed to thrill to this badge of honor”
Hey MAGA groupies how ya feeling about no FDIC guarantees of your money in the banks?
Well come to find out this…
Russian politicians are proposing to forcefully seize money from private bank accounts to fund the war against Ukraine, according to The Washington Post on June 27. (No longer have a subscription to WaPo, not giving money to Bezos)
Russian Lawmakers Propose Seizing Private Bank Accounts to Fund War Amid $83B Deficit
It seems it took 22 years for Putin to reach this goal. As for us here it looks like only 2 years.. and it appears it could be even more..
As per WaPo — This statement caused concern within the Russian business community. Representatives noted that individuals are looking for ways to withdraw their funds and leave the country before potential account freezes, The Washington Post wrote. Additionally, the finance ministry is preparing legislation to allow state access to $40 billion in private pension savings..
This is not going to bode well in Russia or here.. have said it’s going to be a bumpy ride but wasn’t expecting the Himalayas…
Stay safe and healthy.. it’s close to 3am, going to peddle on that stationary bike..
The midterms may not save us. Trump must corrupt the midterms to keep Republicans in control of the House and Senate to complete his authoritarian takeover and protect himself and his cronies. He will do everything he can, legal and illegal, to achieve his goals. We already know Trump has no moral limits. We must be able to imagine the unimaginable.
There are two vectors by which the midterms can be undermined. The first and most obvious is by voter suppression. This includes things like gerrymandering, purging voter rolls, restricting mail-in ballots, etc. These actions have been well-publicized and are being challenged in the courts by well-known attorneys and public interest groups. The second and less obvious way to subvert elections is to manipulate the vote count. This has not been as well covered and has received little attention. The use of election software to scan and tabulate votes makes it particularly difficult for anyone but computer security specialists to detect and understand. Election Truth Alliance has done an enormous amount of investigation and here is a link to a compendium of threats they have uncovered; https://electiontruthalliance.substack.com/p/election-security-threats-and-vulnerabilities?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=18auiy
Then we must be prepared to counter as many of these threats as possible:
Find out what your state requires for voter ID. If you need to update or acquire a document, do it now. Help others (elderly, new voters) to be prepared.
Check your voter registration on your local supervisor of elections website. Be sure its up to date & accurate. Keep checking until election day.
Know when & where your state & county does early voting, mail ballot distribution & deadlines, and where your polling place is.
Help your family & friends to be ready to vote. Tell them what is at stake & remind them that their vote has power.
Treat this election as you would a national emergency. Be knowledgeable, prepared & help those around you.
Now is not the time for apathy or cynicism…fascists exploit that. We the people must fight!
The screams of anguish from the left will be music to trumps, and his supporters ears. The only consolation to the rapid collapse of the world as we know it will be the certain knowledge that this will be righted. I don't know how many will perish in the fight, but the nazis were planning on 1,000 years. Didn't quite last that long.
And the days are passing, passing, passing, without anybody stopping this fascist lying convict fucker! Wake up America! What is doing the army? They are called the last line of defense. Get up and say stop. Prove you exist to defend the Constitution and not a few dangerous lunatics billionaire racist thieves. History will remember your abject failure to act.
This 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court to rule in direct opposition to “settled law” flies in the face of what has provided a shield for the heads of regulatory agencies to run their respective departments for the good of the American people, not for the whims or political agendas of any one President.
While each Justice, during their respective confirmation hearings, state that they will always take into account matters of “stare decisis” each case must be examined on its own merits.
So, these 6 sitting justices all concurred that Humphrey’s Executor of 1935 is incorrect In its establishment of protection for the heads of regulatory agencies just because Donald Trump is forcing his fever dream of being America’s first Dictator?
If true, then one must assume that no president will ever be elected to the highest office in the land and Democracy is now dead. Or, these justices are willing to have the heads of each of those regulatory agencies flip when different presidents come into power.
Either scenario is plausible and the avoidance of any is now in the hands of the Legislature which must carefully consider how to pass legislation that will provide the necessary protections to ensure that these agencies run independently of Executive control.
What legislation could they pass that won’t run afoul of this decision? Clearly, Gorsuch understood that most of these agencies operate as quasi judicial and/or quasi legislative, yet, he still concurred in the majority decision. It’s crazy. Biden didn’t have the power to forgive federal student loans according to SCOTUS, but Trump has nearly unlimited power, vastly expanded by this very court, which has no problem overruling nearly a century of precedent.
Kate Shaw has an excellent Op-Ed in today’s NY Times. She states, in part - when calling upon Congress as having the most likely approach to reversing the omnipotence the Supreme Court is conveying to the Executive Branch - Ms Shaw calls for Congress (not in its present form, of course) to consider realigning the Court..
“… an agenda for Supreme Court reform will ensure that the limits of our political imagination and political will can be far broader than what the current six-justice majority will allow.”
Most assuredly, she is a law professor and I am not, so I defer to her expertise and knowledge of how that might actually work - all I know is Congress has the ability to write laws that have the ability to change things for the better.
I hadn’t seen Ms Shaw’s Op-Ed when I posted my comment earlier this morning, but it is an engaging read.
I hope I’m wrong, but to rest all of your hope on the voters flipping Congress in November seems naive at best. I predict Trump will declare a national emergency and possibly declare martial law, and cancel or postpone indefinitely the election.
Since Tr*mp likes the number 47 so much I predict he will soon try to expel 3 states from the union, maybe New York, California, and Oregon. That will also leave his cult in a better position,
I’m thinking that gold eagle was commissioned by order of the President to the treasury. 22 karat with some gold from Fort Knox. Like his new Air Force 1 that is scheduled to go into his library, the eagle too will be sent there, or to the Mar-A-Lago ballroom.
This is an excellent post. I reaffirm what you say has to happen at the end of it. Yes. We have to take both houses in the election and do everything you outline.
If you don’t mind one more comment - from all I’ve been seeing, reading and hearing, now might be an opportune time to dispense with the two party system. I see corporate Democrats, middle of the road who are consistently actively working against Progressive Democrats, monetarily and every other way possible, literally kneecapping them to keep them from being elected. I was horrified at their efforts against Mamdani. I know that Bernie and Angus King have always run as independents, successfully. What if all of like minded formed a third party - the Independent Party. Then all the people who feel like they really have no choice between two “evils,” would have one. I’ve actually been thinking about it since 2016 with all the talk about the choice being only one between the lesser of two evils. Just my opinion for what it’s worth, or worth nothing - however you might wanna see it. I do feel for all of you! I send you my black heart 🖤 representative of the two sides of everything, good and not so good, and wish you very much better times. With all the love 🧡 and respect I can muster at this time, from 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 We will always be friends with the American people who have had better times, and for whom I wish better times going forward.
Just one comment about the photo of the absolutely atrocious, tacky, tawdry golden eagle trump has superimposed on the White House, that was raised by Steve Schmidt - the flag on the photo has . . . . . wait for it! ONLY ELEVEN STARS on it. According to Steve, those represent the eleven confederate states. With all the love I can muster for my American friends, and with all due respect sincerely, y’all are just royally FUCKED! Especially with your Supreme Court, run by Roberts, with Alito and Thomas likely to retire allowing forty year clones to fill their seats, and the decisions passed today! I do so feel for you and extend my black heart 🖤 in sympathy, which also represents the good still in evidence in your country. Always wishing you the best possible! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
I am more disappointed in the decisions of the Court than anything. I always considered them the mainstay for justice for the American people. No more, the majority are political toys of the executive branch. Our hope is in turning the Congress this November, so all our energy needs to go in that direction. Fellow Americans, please get out to vote for democracy!
Two things have me worried this morning. First yes, if we talk about votes cast, and votes counted I think the Democrats will retake the Senate and the House; big victories would be great because it’s harder to claim fraud, but some of the victories may be narrow. Trump and his enablers see the writing on the wall and I fear they are already constructing a plan to subvert the whole process. He’s been fixated on mail-in voting, and his loss in the Supreme Court yesterday means that he can amplify his claims of voter fraud and “CHEATING” even though the reality is that voter fraud is vanishingly low. Trump has never been constrained by reality. His “truth“ is not the truth that you and I enjoy. Second thing that has me worried is the rising popularity of democratic socialists because Trump is trying to appeal to a McCarthyist Cold War image of “communists“ taking over the country. So when it actually comes to voting time, my fear is that Trump will declare a national emergency based on voter fraud and communist takeover. I hope people like Marc Elias are gearing up for such a probability. I fear we are going to need a lot of legal protection.
You don't know what you've got til it's gone, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot
-Joni Mitchell
This is great! Thanks for sharing. The younger generations might not get it, but us "oldies but goodies" hear it resonate.
Our Democracy is damaged and in need of life support. If there ever was a time for "We The People" to stand together and say NO...it is now.
Yup. You don’t miss yer water till yer well runs dry. - some cowboy.
Don't it always seem to go...
Thanks, Joni!!! I needed that!! (you too, Randyzpdx!!) We've definitely got ourselves a super ugly parking lot!!!
Fantastic Canadian! Well said Joni! Well, and, Joni was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, as was I. Saskatchewan people are very traditionally special and we SO understand - each other and just regular people. It’s a loyalty that we have, no matter where in the world we are. Thank you for the opportunity to shout a praise on the back of Randy’s comment and Joni Mitchell!
As I posted on Professor HCR substack about the SCOTUS decision today….
This decision is ghastly. Independent agencies are intended to protect the public with experts at the helm, not a loyalist that buys into the mob for a job and protection. The corruption is putrid.
When expertise from these agencies are replaced with a loyalist who suffers? The American people…
From the list supplied by legal analyst Barb McQuade. Here’s just one - The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is an independent U.S. government agency that protects your money and maintains stability in the nation's banking system. It insures bank deposits up to $250,000 per depositor, per insured bank, and regulates banks to ensure they are operating safely. Now per this ruling there’s No longer a need to have any experts at the head of this agency. Totally voided of any experts.. just some loyalists….
How’s everyone feeling about their money in the banks with a loyalist heading up the FDIC and no experts around? Because the loyalist can hire their own cronies to fill the jobs within the agency…
As per Greg Sargent, his words, “He thinks corruption is the highest form of winning.” Then proceeds to say. “his supporters are supposed to thrill to this badge of honor”
Hey MAGA groupies how ya feeling about no FDIC guarantees of your money in the banks?
Well come to find out this…
Russian politicians are proposing to forcefully seize money from private bank accounts to fund the war against Ukraine, according to The Washington Post on June 27. (No longer have a subscription to WaPo, not giving money to Bezos)
Russian Lawmakers Propose Seizing Private Bank Accounts to Fund War Amid $83B Deficit
https://united24media.com/world/russian-lawmakers-propose-seizing-private-bank-accounts-to-fund-war-amid-83b-deficit-20247
It seems it took 22 years for Putin to reach this goal. As for us here it looks like only 2 years.. and it appears it could be even more..
As per WaPo — This statement caused concern within the Russian business community. Representatives noted that individuals are looking for ways to withdraw their funds and leave the country before potential account freezes, The Washington Post wrote. Additionally, the finance ministry is preparing legislation to allow state access to $40 billion in private pension savings..
This is not going to bode well in Russia or here.. have said it’s going to be a bumpy ride but wasn’t expecting the Himalayas…
Stay safe and healthy.. it’s close to 3am, going to peddle on that stationary bike..
The midterms may not save us. Trump must corrupt the midterms to keep Republicans in control of the House and Senate to complete his authoritarian takeover and protect himself and his cronies. He will do everything he can, legal and illegal, to achieve his goals. We already know Trump has no moral limits. We must be able to imagine the unimaginable.
There are two vectors by which the midterms can be undermined. The first and most obvious is by voter suppression. This includes things like gerrymandering, purging voter rolls, restricting mail-in ballots, etc. These actions have been well-publicized and are being challenged in the courts by well-known attorneys and public interest groups. The second and less obvious way to subvert elections is to manipulate the vote count. This has not been as well covered and has received little attention. The use of election software to scan and tabulate votes makes it particularly difficult for anyone but computer security specialists to detect and understand. Election Truth Alliance has done an enormous amount of investigation and here is a link to a compendium of threats they have uncovered; https://electiontruthalliance.substack.com/p/election-security-threats-and-vulnerabilities?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=18auiy
Then we must be prepared to counter as many of these threats as possible:
Find out what your state requires for voter ID. If you need to update or acquire a document, do it now. Help others (elderly, new voters) to be prepared.
Check your voter registration on your local supervisor of elections website. Be sure its up to date & accurate. Keep checking until election day.
Know when & where your state & county does early voting, mail ballot distribution & deadlines, and where your polling place is.
Help your family & friends to be ready to vote. Tell them what is at stake & remind them that their vote has power.
Treat this election as you would a national emergency. Be knowledgeable, prepared & help those around you.
Now is not the time for apathy or cynicism…fascists exploit that. We the people must fight!
The screams of anguish from the left will be music to trumps, and his supporters ears. The only consolation to the rapid collapse of the world as we know it will be the certain knowledge that this will be righted. I don't know how many will perish in the fight, but the nazis were planning on 1,000 years. Didn't quite last that long.
We're not going to scream in anguish…giving up is not an option!
And the days are passing, passing, passing, without anybody stopping this fascist lying convict fucker! Wake up America! What is doing the army? They are called the last line of defense. Get up and say stop. Prove you exist to defend the Constitution and not a few dangerous lunatics billionaire racist thieves. History will remember your abject failure to act.
This 6-3 decision by the Supreme Court to rule in direct opposition to “settled law” flies in the face of what has provided a shield for the heads of regulatory agencies to run their respective departments for the good of the American people, not for the whims or political agendas of any one President.
While each Justice, during their respective confirmation hearings, state that they will always take into account matters of “stare decisis” each case must be examined on its own merits.
So, these 6 sitting justices all concurred that Humphrey’s Executor of 1935 is incorrect In its establishment of protection for the heads of regulatory agencies just because Donald Trump is forcing his fever dream of being America’s first Dictator?
If true, then one must assume that no president will ever be elected to the highest office in the land and Democracy is now dead. Or, these justices are willing to have the heads of each of those regulatory agencies flip when different presidents come into power.
Either scenario is plausible and the avoidance of any is now in the hands of the Legislature which must carefully consider how to pass legislation that will provide the necessary protections to ensure that these agencies run independently of Executive control.
What legislation could they pass that won’t run afoul of this decision? Clearly, Gorsuch understood that most of these agencies operate as quasi judicial and/or quasi legislative, yet, he still concurred in the majority decision. It’s crazy. Biden didn’t have the power to forgive federal student loans according to SCOTUS, but Trump has nearly unlimited power, vastly expanded by this very court, which has no problem overruling nearly a century of precedent.
Kate Shaw has an excellent Op-Ed in today’s NY Times. She states, in part - when calling upon Congress as having the most likely approach to reversing the omnipotence the Supreme Court is conveying to the Executive Branch - Ms Shaw calls for Congress (not in its present form, of course) to consider realigning the Court..
“… an agenda for Supreme Court reform will ensure that the limits of our political imagination and political will can be far broader than what the current six-justice majority will allow.”
Most assuredly, she is a law professor and I am not, so I defer to her expertise and knowledge of how that might actually work - all I know is Congress has the ability to write laws that have the ability to change things for the better.
I hadn’t seen Ms Shaw’s Op-Ed when I posted my comment earlier this morning, but it is an engaging read.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/30/opinion/congress-scotus-trump-slaughter.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share
Another excellent report from the front lines of our demise. Couldn’t agree more that Vance should be removed too. Can’t wait til November.
remember that the third in line of succession is the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Do you really want Mike Johnson as president?
You’re right John. But I was thinking, perhaps too hopefully, that if the dems win both houses we would have a new Speaker in January.
I hope I’m wrong, but to rest all of your hope on the voters flipping Congress in November seems naive at best. I predict Trump will declare a national emergency and possibly declare martial law, and cancel or postpone indefinitely the election.
Exactly right, I’m afraid.
My pessimistic take is, I'm glad I'm 77 years old and in declining health just like the country.
Since Tr*mp likes the number 47 so much I predict he will soon try to expel 3 states from the union, maybe New York, California, and Oregon. That will also leave his cult in a better position,
electorially speaking.
I’m thinking that gold eagle was commissioned by order of the President to the treasury. 22 karat with some gold from Fort Knox. Like his new Air Force 1 that is scheduled to go into his library, the eagle too will be sent there, or to the Mar-A-Lago ballroom.
Heather, very comprehensive recap.
Read HCR first today (yes, I read in order of arrival). I said everything there that I want to say. And I'm too sick to my ass to say it again.
This is an excellent post. I reaffirm what you say has to happen at the end of it. Yes. We have to take both houses in the election and do everything you outline.
If you don’t mind one more comment - from all I’ve been seeing, reading and hearing, now might be an opportune time to dispense with the two party system. I see corporate Democrats, middle of the road who are consistently actively working against Progressive Democrats, monetarily and every other way possible, literally kneecapping them to keep them from being elected. I was horrified at their efforts against Mamdani. I know that Bernie and Angus King have always run as independents, successfully. What if all of like minded formed a third party - the Independent Party. Then all the people who feel like they really have no choice between two “evils,” would have one. I’ve actually been thinking about it since 2016 with all the talk about the choice being only one between the lesser of two evils. Just my opinion for what it’s worth, or worth nothing - however you might wanna see it. I do feel for all of you! I send you my black heart 🖤 representative of the two sides of everything, good and not so good, and wish you very much better times. With all the love 🧡 and respect I can muster at this time, from 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦 We will always be friends with the American people who have had better times, and for whom I wish better times going forward.
Just one comment about the photo of the absolutely atrocious, tacky, tawdry golden eagle trump has superimposed on the White House, that was raised by Steve Schmidt - the flag on the photo has . . . . . wait for it! ONLY ELEVEN STARS on it. According to Steve, those represent the eleven confederate states. With all the love I can muster for my American friends, and with all due respect sincerely, y’all are just royally FUCKED! Especially with your Supreme Court, run by Roberts, with Alito and Thomas likely to retire allowing forty year clones to fill their seats, and the decisions passed today! I do so feel for you and extend my black heart 🖤 in sympathy, which also represents the good still in evidence in your country. Always wishing you the best possible! 🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
I am more disappointed in the decisions of the Court than anything. I always considered them the mainstay for justice for the American people. No more, the majority are political toys of the executive branch. Our hope is in turning the Congress this November, so all our energy needs to go in that direction. Fellow Americans, please get out to vote for democracy!
Two things have me worried this morning. First yes, if we talk about votes cast, and votes counted I think the Democrats will retake the Senate and the House; big victories would be great because it’s harder to claim fraud, but some of the victories may be narrow. Trump and his enablers see the writing on the wall and I fear they are already constructing a plan to subvert the whole process. He’s been fixated on mail-in voting, and his loss in the Supreme Court yesterday means that he can amplify his claims of voter fraud and “CHEATING” even though the reality is that voter fraud is vanishingly low. Trump has never been constrained by reality. His “truth“ is not the truth that you and I enjoy. Second thing that has me worried is the rising popularity of democratic socialists because Trump is trying to appeal to a McCarthyist Cold War image of “communists“ taking over the country. So when it actually comes to voting time, my fear is that Trump will declare a national emergency based on voter fraud and communist takeover. I hope people like Marc Elias are gearing up for such a probability. I fear we are going to need a lot of legal protection.