President Caliban And His Red Hot Footlickers Play Songs of Profit and Power Over Us

Caliban's rage is his inability to see himself, or his desires, reflected in art.--Oscar Wilde

CALIBAN SAYS THE 2020 ELECTION WAS STOLEN

As I told thee before, I am subject

to a tyrant, a sorcerer, that by his cunning hath

cheated me of the island.

I say by sorcery he got this isle;

From me he got it.

University of Virginia President Resigns Under Pressure From Trump Administration

The Justice Department had demanded that James Ryan step down in order to help resolve an investigation into the school’s D.E.I. efforts….The New York Times reported on Thursday evening that the Justice Department had demanded Mr. Ryan’s resignation as a condition to settle a civil rights investigation into the school’s diversity practices. ...Some members of the school’s board had pushed for Mr. Ryan’s ouster, fearing that if the university failed to comply with the Justice Department's demands, the Trump administration would follow through on its threat to strip the school of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding...

Board members have also expressed concerns that under Mr. Ryan, the school had not properly dismantled the school’s diversity initiatives despite a 2023 Supreme Court decision doing away with affirmative action and Mr. Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

James Ryan was not able to stand up and fight. He no doubt had figured out the benefit to the school outweighed something else. I wasn’t in his shoes. But I have lived a little longer than he and I have learned this: Sometimes the purpose of fighting is to set a good example, to tell the bullies No, to be able to look in the mirror without flinching. As for the DOJ’s bullying – I send to them the curse of Caliban.

“As wicked dew as e’er my mother brushed

With raven’s feather from unwholesome fen

Drop on you both. A southwest blow on you

And blister you all o’er.”

In today’s Supreme Court rulings:

Trump v. Casa, Inc.

The Supreme Court ruled today that lower federal courts can't block Trump’s proposed end to birthright citizenship nationwide — only in the states that filed lawsuits against it.

The court’s conservative justices were in the majority, arguing that judges shouldn’t overstep by issuing nationwide blocks. (WTF?) Liberals strongly dissented.

Justice Barrett said courts should limit injunctions to what is necessary, while Justice Jackson warned the ruling threatens the rule of law.

The legal challenge did not decide whether Trump’s policy to end birthright citizenship is valid. It decided that federal courts cannot block it nationwide.

The 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to nearly all born in the U.S., a view backed by legal scholars across the political spectrum, with rare exceptions like children of diplomats. This decision did not touch the merits of the case, but will allow the birthright citizenship executive order to take effect in some parts of the country for now.

The Court’s ruling is composed of two main parts.

The first is its declaration that it is possible that the president can overcome the Constitution by issuing an executive order doing away with birthright citizenship.

The second is that lower courts can no longer issue nationwide injunctions against unconstitutional policies imposed by the executive. Injunctions must now be created on a patchwork basis.

The Supreme Court of the United States has empowered the president to impose whatever order he likes, whether it’s constitutional or not, and then prevents judicial overview by a federal court except at the local level. Federal courts have been devalued to local courts. This means that the United States has been split into states where the Constitution is the rule of law and states that do not have to follow the Constitution. This ruling does not limit itself to the 14^th Amendment.

“No right is safe in the new legal regime the Court creates,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her dissent, which was joined by her fellow Democratic appointees, Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson. “Today, the threat is to birthright citizenship. Tomorrow, a different administration may try to seize firearms from law abiding citizens or prevent people of certain faiths from gathering to worship… That holding renders constitutional guarantees meaningful in name only for any individuals who are not parties to a lawsuit.” When the Constitution and the president face off, the Constitution falls.

“The Court’s decision is nothing less than an open invitation for the Government to bypass the Constitution,” Sotomayor warned. “The Executive Branch can now enforce policies that flout settled law and violate countless individuals’ constitutional rights, and the federal courts will be hamstrung to stop its actions fully.”

Let’s think about what this means.

And while we’re thinking, read this summary of Mahmoud v. Taylor, eviscerating public education in purpose and power.

Mahmoud v. Taylor (Parent’s ability to opt-out children from lessons involving LGBTQ topics in public schools)

The Supreme Court ruled that religious families likely have a First Amendment right to opt their children out of public school lessons involving LGBTQ topics.

The case centered on whether these families could avoid certain classroom content based on their religious beliefs.

In a 6–3 decision, the Court said the families are entitled to a preliminary injunction, meaning the school must pause enforcement of the lessons while the case continues.

Justice Alito wrote the majority opinion, siding with the families on religious freedom grounds.

Justice Sotomayor dissented, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, disagreeing with the decision.

Chief Justice John Roberts Dancing to the Dictator’s Ditty

Thine own forever, and I, thy Caliban, for aye thy foot-licker

What should we do? The public disapproval of Trump policies has no perceivable impact on the Congress, the Executive, and the Supreme Court. They are behaving as people immune from slings and arrows behave. Our government has been taken over by fanatics who believe that they can evade any consequences of making millions of Americans’ lives worse, consequences at any ballot box in any future. Let’s think about that too.

Remember this as evil capers over the world. Don’t let the bastards get you down. Smile at strangers, pick up the fallen, listen to the music, walk in the woods, and feel the love of the planet in the air around you. Let your heart love living and fight back. Join with others and fight like Ukrainians. Don’t cower. Live.