Now THIS is disturbing!

Sorry for the language but this is about as nasty as it gets, and demonstrates just how completely OFF the rails some Trumpers have gone.

Deconstructing church-state separation and reconstructing Christian theocracy

“If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you are sadly mistaken. Every day, it is going to be a fight. And that is what I’m proudest about Donald Trump. All the opportunities he had to waver off this, all the people who have come to him and said, ‘Oh, you’ve got to moderate’ — every day in the Oval Office, he tells Reince and I, ‘I committed this to the American people, I promised this when I ran, and I’m going to deliver on this.’ .... [The Trump administration is in an unending battle for] ‘deconstruction of the administrative state.’” -- Steve Bannon in 2017 referring to the mainstream media, political opposition, and the radical right populist intention to completely restructure the federal government and society

In addition to attacking and eliminating civil liberties such as abortion and same-sex marriage, the Christian nationalist (CN) wing of the fascist Republican Party wants to completely obliterate all separation between church and state. In the minds of the elites who control the CN political movement, establishing a Christian theocracy with society controlled by Christian sharia law, is the ultimate power and wealth grab. Radical Christian fundamentalists would control both political power and tax revenues for its own ends. Those ends include making fascist Republican elites richer and more powerful than they already are. 

An opinion piece by MSN comments on the prospects for destroying church-state separation:

Many legal scholars in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s radical decision to reverse Roe v. Wade have focused on the dangerous implications of the court’s centuries-old worldview on protections for things such as same-sex marriage and contraception. This concern is real, but there is another issue with equally grave constitutional consequences, one that portends the emergence of a foundational alteration of American government itself.

Considered alongside two First Amendment rulings last term, the Dobbs decision marks a serious step in an emerging legal campaign by religious conservatives on the Supreme Court to undermine the bedrock concept of separation of church and state and to promote Christianity as an intrinsic component of democratic government.

The energy behind this idea was apparent in Justice Samuel Alito’s speech last month for Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Initiative in Rome. Calling it an “honor” to have penned the 6-3 majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, and mocking international leaders for “lambast[ing]” the ruling, Alito spent the bulk of his remarks lamenting “the turn away from religion” in Western society. In his mind, the “significant increase in the percentage of the population that rejects religion” warrants a full-on “fight against secularism” — which Alito likened to staving off totalitarianism itself. Ignoring the vast historical record of human rights abuses in the name of religion (such as the Taliban in Afghanistan and even his own Catholic church’s role in perpetuating slavery in America), Alito identified the communist regimes of China and the Soviet Union as examples of what happens when freedom to worship publicly is curtailed. Protection for private worship, he argued, is not enough. Because “any judge who wants to shrink religious liberty” can just do it by interpreting the law, Alito insisted that there “must be limits” on that power.

Dobbs is significant not just because it reversed 50 years of precedent under the “due process clause” of the Fourteenth Amendment (under which the Court has recognized certain rights, even if unenumerated in the Constitution, as so bound up with the concept of liberty that the government cannot arbitrarily interfere with them). In Dobbs, Alito subverted that notion and fashioned a brand-new, two-part test for assessing the viability of individual rights: (1) whether the right is expressed in the Constitution’s text, and if not, (2) whether it existed as a matter of “the Nation’s history and tradition.” This second part of the test is the crucial one when it comes to religion — and in particular, its installation in government.

Under Dobbs’ step two, Alito time-traveled back to the Fourteenth Amendment’s ratification in 1868, when women could not even vote and, in his words, “three quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy.” Alito then regressed even earlier, to 13th century England (before America’s birth), to shore up his dubious quest to excavate historical authority rejecting abortion rights. Alito gave no guidelines for identifying which chapter of history counts in this calculus. Nor did he grapple with ancient law that actually went the other way. All we know going forward is that, for this majority, text is paramount and, barring that, very old history is determinative.

This article makes it clear, once again, that the Republican CN judges on the Supreme Court are opaque and unprincipled in their decision-making. They know the decisions they want to make before a case is heard, and they then dream up a reason that their decision is legal and constitutional. When there is no sound legal reason for what they want, they just make one up. The power that gives the Supreme Court is enormous.

On the one hand Alito complains that protection for private religious practice is insufficient because a judge can shrink religious liberty just by interpreting a law. On the other hand, Alito and four other theocrat CN judges decide to take power from judges to interpret law and instead tells them to look to cherry-picked ancient texts that he claims support the decision he wanted to arrive at the day he and the other Republican CN judges were sworn in as federal judges. 

There is no legal precedent for determining if a personal civil liberty is constitutional based on whether it existed as a matter of “the Nation’s history and tradition.” Alito just made that up. The whole point of judges being there is and has been since 1803 to interpret law. Now Alito and his Christofascist friends are turning to selected ancient texts to tell Americans in 2022 what their Nation’s history and traditions are and therefore what rights they can have and not have. This is pure Christian bullshit masquerading as sound legal reasoning in a secular country with a secular Constitution, secular traditions and a living Constitution that adapts to secular social change over time. 

The Christian fundamentalist intent here is crystal clear. The CN movement needs an excuse (they call it a rationale) to obliterate church-state separation. Looking at convenient cherry-picked ancient texts eviscerates what the Founders and drafters of the Civil War Amendments tried to do. Ignoring inconvenient ancient texts makes the bad situation much worse. The Founders tried to keep Christianity and religion generally out of government as best they could in their times. They tried to protect personal rights and civil liberties as best they could. 

Now, the Christofascist Republican Party has taken control of the Supreme Court. That court intends to generally get rid of secular law, in particular, laws related to civil liberties. They intend to replace that with Christian sharia law. 

That is core CN dogma. It is not a secret. It is a true conspiracy, but one so big that it cannot possibly be fully hidden from the public. What CN movement elites and their propagandists (Faux News, etc.) try very hard to do is to hide their real intent. That is where the conspiracy is. In that, the CN movement is quite effective. Millions of Christian fundamentalists have bought into core CN lies and propaganda. For example, most believe that America was founded as a White Christian nation, which is a lie. Most also believes that God Almighty demands that White heterosexual men should rule over all others with an iron fist, which is propaganda.

Our secular democracy and civil liberties face at least two major, urgent threats from the fascist Republican Party. One is the fall of secularism and pluralism to intolerant White Christian bigotry. The second is the fall of professional bureaucracies to lawless authoritarian radical right ideologues and regulation, taxes and government hating capitalists. Both are lethal separately. Together they are more than lethal.

A part of Sotomayor's dissent in a recent case that 

punched a huge hole in the wall separating church and state

Acknowledgement: Thanks to FriendlyGoat for bringing the MSN article to my attention.

CPAC and modern authoritarian anti-democracy tactics

This 19 minute video discusses how authoritarians rise to power in democracies and then they subvert and kill democracy. The process is well underway in America right now. Most of the interview is with Kim Lane Scheppele, a professor at Princeton. She is an expert on how Hungarian democracy was destroyed after Viktor Orban was elected in 2010. Orban has since been re-elected three times in rigged elections, making him the Hungarian dictator for life. Central points are:

• Modern authoritarians in democracies have learned how to gain power and then use it to establish tyranny. After being elected, they destroy free and fair elections and by subverting government. Government subversion involves firing career professional employees and replacing them with people chosen for their loyalty to the tyrant. That includes government employees who oversee elections. Loyalty to the Constitution and the rule of law, concern for the public interest, professional competence and other concerns are not the most important qualifier. Loyalty is all-important.

• CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference), which consists mostly of Republican Party elites, elected politicians and radical right propagandists (Faux News, etc.), is openly adopting these same tactics. Once back in power, Republicans plan to give themselves the power to fire tens of thousands of federal employees. Fired employees will be replaced by people loyal to the Republican Party leader and its elites. 

• Most average people in democracies are very slow to understand what is happening to their form of government. It takes years before most people come to realize that they have lost their democracy. Holding rigged elections distract from the fact that elections have been turned into a farce. Despite being a farce, holding rigged elections provides extremely effective propaganda and cover for tyrants. Tyrants boldly but falsely claim they are democratic and adhering to the rule of law by holding elections they falsely say are free and fair. The tyrant's supporters do not complain because they believe they are rightfully winning, and defending their racial purity, their nation and literally Western civilization.

• Institutions and norms that impose checks and balances on concentration of power, like those in place in the US, fall apart when the people in power are loyal to a party or a tyrant In a functioning American democracy, loyal of powerful people in government would be to federalism, the institutions they are in, and the Constitutional. That is the legal basis for separation of power sufficient to prevent the rise of a tyrant. If Republicans once again get control of institutions, including federal agencies, federal courts, congress and the presidency, their loyalty to their party will be the pathway for a tyrant to rise to power for life. So far, the Republican Party has disabled all of the checks and balances that it could. That makes the rise of a tyrant for life in the US much more likely. The GOP already controls the US Supreme Court, making it a major ally in the Republican Party's run at tyranny.

Acknowledgement: Thanks to PD for bringing this interview to my attention.

The next tactic in political war against democracy: Attack and investigate the investigators

Some of us thought the day might come when Republican Party elites would call for open warfare against the US Government and the rule of law. Well, that day is here. The Washington Post writes in a series of short articles:

Trump claims political persecution after FBI search of Mar-a-Lago residence

News of the court-authorized search prompted recriminations from Trump’s fellow Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who threatened to investigate the Justice Department if the GOP takes control of the chamber next year. Democrats, who twice impeached Trump but failed both times to convict him, welcomed the news of the raid. 

Trump raising money for his PAC off the FBI search

Former president Donald Trump is seeking to raise money for his political action committee off the FBI search of his residence.

A text message sent to supporters Tuesday morning announces that “MAR-A-LAGO was raided” and provides a link to donate to Save America, Trump’s PAC.

A landing page seeks to stoke more outrage, offering this message: “It’s time for EVERY PATRIOT to step up and stand against the Left’s reckless WITCH HUNTS and political persecution of President Trump!”

Republicans call for Garland, Wray to hold news conferences, testify to Congress

Leading Republican lawmakers are calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray to hold news conferences and appear before Congress to explain why the search of former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence was necessary.

During a television appearance Tuesday morning, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said Garland and Wray — as well as President Biden — should appear before cameras and “take all questions, explain why they’re doing what they’re doing, what each of them knew when.”

“This should scare every American,” Scott, who leads the campaign committee of Senate Republicans, said on Fox Business. “Until we get answers, you should have unbelievable concern.”

Conservative Republicans planning to dine with Trump tonight

Members of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative caucus of House Republicans, are planning to have dinner with former president Donald Trump at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., in what is expected to be a show of solidarity following the FBI search of his residence in Florida.

The visit was previously planned but takes on added significance given Monday’s news and a vow by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to investigate the Justice Department if Republicans take control of the House next year.

The corrupt and authoritarian intent of the GOP leadership could not be clearer. This is the face of modern American fascism. What scares this American is not the raid on the traitor's residence. It is the response of Republican elites in defense of what is indefensible and openly treasonous. As far as the Republican Party goes, the rule of law has fallen. They are done with it. They are coming with a vengeance for our democracy and liberties.

Qs: 

1. Is it over the top to accuse Republican Party elites as modern American fascists who now openly ignore and attack the rule of law, or do facts and circumstances make those accusations reasonably defensible?

2. Are the rank and file who still support the Republican leadership also fascist, or merely understandably deceived and betrayed? We all know about the elites, but what about the rank and file?

Rick Scott -- openly attacking 

the rule of law and democracy

Republican politicians now openly ignoring court rulings they dislike

Once again, the issue is Republican Party election subversion tactics. And once again, the intent of Republican elites and politicians is crystal clear: Subvert elections so that only Republican candidates can win elections. Anyone who cannot see this by now, just cannot see, is not looking or knows it and either supports or opposes election subversion by the openly fascist Republican Party.

The New York Times writes:

Maps in Four States Were Ruled Illegal Gerrymanders. They’re Being Used Anyway.

Since January, judges in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Ohio have found that Republican legislators illegally drew those states’ congressional maps along racial or partisan lines, or that a trial very likely would conclude that they did. In years past, judges who have reached similar findings have ordered new maps, or had an expert draw them, to ensure that coming elections were fair.

But a shift in election law philosophy at the Supreme Court, combined with a new aggressiveness among Republicans who drew the maps, has upended that model for the elections in November. This time, all four states are using the rejected maps, and questions about their legality for future elections will be hashed out in court later.

The immediate upshot, election experts say, is that Republicans almost certainly will gain more seats in midterm elections at a time when Democrats already are struggling to maintain their bare majority.  

Some election law scholars say they are troubled by the consequences in the long run.

“We’re seeing a revolution in courts’ willingness to allow elections to go forward under illegal or unconstitutional rules,” Richard L. Hasen, a professor at the U.C.L.A. School of Law and the director of its Safeguarding Democracy Project, said in an interview. “And that’s creating a situation in which states are getting one free illegal election before they have to change their rules.”

If Republicans get their way, all it may take to kill off free and fair elections in the US is just one election under illegal or unconstitutional rules. That might be all it will take.

Once the Republican Party has normalized the practice of ignoring court rulings it dislikes, that will put a big wood stake through both the heart of what little is left of (1) the rule of law[1], and (2) free and fair elections. After that, other civil liberties will fall along with the fall of the rule of law.

Anyone who thinks that the 2022 general elections will be free and fair, really ought to take a look at the summary shown below and then reconsider their position in light of relevant data and in light of what the NYT reported and this post and other recent posts here contain. I've been warning people over and over and over. 

December 2021 data

Footnote:

1.  Despite yesterday's execution of an FBI search warrant at Mar-a-lago, the rule of law as applied to rich and/or powerful people is barely hanging on by a thread. That applies especially to openly fascist Republicans, even some who are not rich or powerful. 

Good news from science

This is a really big deal. The NIH is now funding research into ways to enhance scientific rigor. This should be a game changer. I hope it's not too little or too late. Steve Novella at Neorologica writes:

This is a great idea, and in fact is long overdue. The NIH is awarding various grants to establish educational materials and centers to teach principles of scientific rigor to researchers. This may seem redundant, but it absolutely isn’t.

At present principles of research are taught in basic form during scientific courses, but advanced principles are largely left to individual mentorship. This creates a great deal of variability in how well researchers really understand the principles of scientific rigor. As a result, a lot of research falls short of scientific ideals. This creates a great deal of waste in the system. NIH, as a funding institution, has a great deal of incentive to reduce this waste.

The primary mechanism will be to create teaching modules that then can be made freely available to educational and research institutions. These modules would cover: 

“biases in research; logical fallacies around causality; how to develop hypotheses; designing literature searches; identifying experimental variables; and reducing confounding variables in research.”

Sounds like a good start. The “biases in research” is a broad category, so I’m not sure how thorough coverage will be. I would explicitly include as an area of education – how to avoid p-hacking. Perhaps this could be part of a broader category on how to properly use statistic in research, the limits of the p-value, and the importance of using other statistical methods like effect sizes and Bayesian analysis.  

Prior research has shown that when asked about their research behavior, about a third of researchers admit (anonymously) to bad behavior that amounts to p-hacking. This is likely mostly innocent and naive. I lecture about this topic all the time myself, and I find that many researchers are unfamiliar with the more nuanced aspects of scientific rigor.  

And of course, once the NIH requires certification, this will almost certainly make it uniform within academia, at least on the biomedical side. Then we need other research granting institutions to replicate this, also requiring certification. It basically should become impossible to have a career as a researcher in any field without some basic certification in the principles of research rigor.

OMG, someone outside Dissident Politics is actually taking logic fallacies seriously? I must have died and got reluctantly shoved up to heaven. Next after science, politics needs to tackle this same plague on democracy, humanity and civilization.

No, it is not the case that science and politics can be dealt with the same way. They are different. But it is the case that the data and reasoning behind politics can be subject to the same kind of rigor, if politics is to be based more on fact and sound reasoning than it is now. Opinions will still differ, but the extent of difference due to irrationally disputed facts, e.g., stolen election vs. not stolen, differences in opinions ought to be significantly reduced. Everyone doing politics firmly believes their politics is based on real facts and sound reasoning. A lot of research indicates that just is not true for most people, most of the time.

Politics is mostly sloppy, not rigorous.