The end goal is a theocracy
This is the desire of the Christo-fascist force driving the political right in the 21st Century. The success of placing federalist justices on the Supreme Court over the last couple of decades is paying dividends for this group. The recent decision to overturn the half-century old Roe Vs. Wade decision that had protected women’s reproductive rights and allow abortion up to viability is only one step.
SCOTUS is using federalist ideas to reduce the federal government to a few basic duties. National defense, Interstate Commerce, etc.
The next thing you’ll see will be in the coming week or so, is stripping the enforcement provisions of federal agencies, and ruling that each enforcement must be enacted by Congress.
This will effectively neuter every federal agency to do what they were created to do. The EPA, OSHA, SEC, etc. Congress will have to vote on if yellow vests are required on construction sites, or how much ventilation is in coal mines. The EPA may rule that dumping toxins into a river is not allowed, but compliance will become voluntary unless Congress or the individual states pass enforcement for that rule. We should expect that only the most egregious violations of rules will get Congressional attention, and the trend will be to push these enforcements to the individual states.
Then, as was telegraphed by overturning Roe v Wade, all protections implied in the Constitution are on the block. All that will remain are those specified in the Constitution or Amendments. So, yes, slavery will still be outlawed, and universal suffrage will remain intact. But any others, be it same-sex marriage, any trans-rights, contraception, or whatever else, will all be subject to reversal. This is no joke. This is the plan. If it isn’t specifically granted as a freedom, it will be stripped. Provisions of the 9th and 10th Amendments notwithstanding.
But down the road, after state laws against abortion and laws against travel to other states for abortions fails to eliminate it in many states, the states-rights position of the theocratic right wing will be supplanted by a national law against abortion to protect “the life of the child” after declaring that life begins at conception.
The Separation of Church and State is not an exact phrase in the Constitution. The first Amendment says the government cannot establish a religion, and protects people’s right to practice one, but keeping religion out of school is implied by that Amendment. It will not stand this Court. We shall see this be decided in the coming years.
This all hinges on the upcoming elections. Not only this year (though this is the most important) but over the next ten years.
As numbers of electors and Representatives to Congress are decided by decennial census as required in Article 1 of the Constitution, and as this count happened two years ago, all such representation and electoral representation will remain for the rest of this decade. This is regardless of how many people are in those states.
As draconian laws in some “purple” states drive minority groups out seeking more favorable states, the purple in those states will return to red. This will create an even greater disparity between popular will and electoral power. I can imagine a future Presidential election where the winning electoral candidate receives 8 or 10 million fewer popular votes. Maybe even in 2024 or 2028.
This may well trigger greater social unrest, and might result in the use of the military to “insure domestic tranquility” as provided in the Constitution’s preamble.
This will clearly lead to a concentration of power into the hands of fewer and fewer people.
This sounds very dark, and it is. It is also avoidable. This only happens if We The People let it.
We are supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. And it is through our participation in our government, particularly by exercising our vote, that we build upon the founders’ vision to push power away from the center.
Three immediate steps must be taken. The first is that we must stop accepting that both parties are the same or so similar that there isn’t a real difference. This is not true. One is a party supporting democracy, diversity, and individual rights; while the other is pressing for what should be called “Christo-Fascism.” This may be hidden from view, but it is clear to see if you follow their own intentions to a conclusion.
I would love it if we had parliamentarian rules that gave a percentage of power to parties based on votes, so more representation of third parties would occur. But that requires amending the Constitution, which isn’t going to happen. We have a winner take all system. So third party advocates must bite the bullet and accept that voting for Democratic party candidates is the only viable option for now. They would be wise to use whatever numbers they have to influence the Democrats to endorse some of their platform positions once elected. But this is a time of picking a side. We will all suffer the consequences should the right win.
The second is that liberal-minded people living in purple states must remain there. I understand that it will be uncomfortable, and at times possibly dangerous. The rest of us will do what we can to help. But if they leave, those states and all their electors will go to the right. And this will give control of Congress to that Christo-fascist power structure. This could happen after this year’s election. A loss of Congress will not put moderate Republicans back in charge of their party now that Trump appears to be gone. Trump was a tool of the theocrats to gain power. He was and is awful, but he was only a temporary face of the problem. The theocrats, using MAGA or whatever brand of authoritarian “nuttery” they offer will be in charge. Most of the rest of the Republicans are federalists in any case. And federalism is a political ideology to support plantation owners. By limiting the reach of the federal government, oligarchs of every stripe can buy the influence necessary to control the states they are in.
Once back in power there will be no more progress, and immediate regression will begin. Expect Impeachments of Biden and Harris, and prosecution of Attorney General Garland, Speaker Pelosi, and others. The first two years of their power will be a revenge tour.
The third thing we must do is register and vote. We must overwhelm with our larger numbers the inequity created by the electoral college and the distribution of Senators. We must do this going forward for as long as we wish to have this Republic remain democratic. But this coming election is the most critical.
This is it folks. This is our moment.
The founders of this country, for all the problems they had, shared the precepts of the age of reason. They recognized the tendency for power to concentrate, and the need to establish a system of government that pushed the power out to the people. And in that they trusted the whole of the people to make decisions better than those made by concentrated power. And they drafted a Constitution that could be changed over time as The People saw fit.
We have to do it folks. This is our fight. We may revere the actions of the patriots who fought to give us this nation, and the actions of those who fought to preserve it four-score and seven years later; but generations hence they will look to us to see what happened. Will we fail them?
Power To The People!