Resistance Is Necessary

I’m listening to the #Sisters-in-Law podcast and they are talking about how the D.O.J. should have started their prosecution, based on what we now know. They also talked about the rules involved and the Supreme Court’s not changing or getting worse during this administration.

In a past blog, I asked the question “When Does The Supreme Court Become Illegitimate?”. Now, as we look at the incoming administration, we have to ask again, “Is this government morally and practically legitimate?”

Let me first say that, in the sense that people voted for the people in government, I am aware that they are — based on rational definitions — legitimate. That is not in question here, even if I wish it were. A Harris administration would have been legitimate in that sense as well, but striving toward a “more perfect union” which I think most people would consider legitimate.

So, with that said, this is what I mean:

A Supreme Court that doesn’t lie to get it’s position.

A Congress that doesn’t lie at all, doesn’t fight about personal issues in lieu of working for the people.

A President that also doesn’t lie, hasn’t even been charged with trying to overthrow the government, or found guilty of state charges. In short, not a convicted criminal.

A President who is a citizen/person like the rest of us — a President who is not above the law.

Also, a President who hires appropriate people for the cabinet. For instance, a Secretary of Education who isn’t anti-education, ala Betty Devos, or a Secretary of the Interior who isn’t against protecting the environment, ala James Watt.

So, by these standards, government should make decisions and policy that make sense to anyone hearing them.

If the Congress agrees to a pick for the Supreme Court, the person applying for the job ought to be what they seem. They should answer questions about who they are and where they stand on the issues and let the Congress decide, based on that information, where they want the country to go. There should be legitimate and healthy debate, based in honesty. This doesn’t prevent the Justice from growing or changing during their tenure, but it does acknowledge where they start.

Also, they should — like everyone else in the country — be forced to live with an ethics code. They should recuse themselves from cases they have any conflicts of interest in. They should be what the apostle Paul called “above reproach”. They shouldn’t even look unethical because that makes the court seem to be making illegitimate decisions. The Chief Justice ought to be held to the highest standard and he or she should be able to enforce the code.

Again, no one should be above the law, in any section of government. Being convicted of a crime related to your work for the government ought to get you fired. If you want to hurt the agency that you work for, you shouldn’t be allowed to do so, and you shouldn’t be hired to do so. Yes, that includes the President.

Regarding elections, no one person’s vote should be worth more than another person’s vote. I would say now that, for instance, Elon Musk’s opinions carry more than your average person’s. Why because he can compound his massage with billboards, news coverage via ads, and via PACs. In the past, this could have been Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Jeff Besos, or Mark Zuckerberg, the NRA, or the PTA. Citizen’s United says that “Corporations are people”. No, people are people. Corporations are a lot of people with a lot of money.

When Joe or Mary, Juan or Esmerelda, Levicta or Hassan steps into the voting booth, their opinion should carry the same weight as the most powerful and the least powerful person out there. While I know the history of the Electoral College, and can see serious flaws in it. I’m not sure that it doesn’t work for good as well as evil. There should be a balance between large states and smaller ones. Any attempt at equally valuing people in the country is a good thing. Would a National Popular Vote work better? Perhaps. On that one, I’ll let the big people decide. But those “big people” ought to live within these other things that used to be standards of conduct.

Until we get these standards met, I’m not going to like any government, and will feel the need to resist — peacefully, of course — but resist nonetheless.

Resisting With Peace,

John