Judges read the polls, but they do not answer to any electorate. I believe that many of them have a "constituency" that very much smaller, whose interests are quite at odds with the general population. Maybe I'm wrong about that and the judiciary is as independent as advertised. Maybe they even care about popular opinion regardless. But if I'm right, then the whims of popular opinion don't matter hardly at all, and we can make some pretty educated guesses, at this point, about who really pulls their strings and in which direction.
We've lost the legislative and executive branches to naked corruption. Will the judicial branch hold firm enough to stave off the otherwise impending complete collapse of our system of governance? I really hope and pray that it will, but I urge my fellow citizens to think hard about their plan B.
This poll bothers me a great deal and I will not celebrate it. Why? Because it shows the general ignorance of the populace (including too many Republicans) about the Constitution and thus tangentially also shows their susceptibility to authoritarian actions.
Mark, correct me in any way that you see fit but to my mind there is no Constitutional authority for Biden to issue vaccine mandates to the public or to accordingly control its behavior either directly or indirectly. The authority for all of his directives (i.e., Executive Orders) must come directly from the Constitution or by statutory authorization through Congress. He can direct government agencies to take actions to enforce statutory law but these agencies themselves are not either legislative or law enforcement bodies.
When has Congress ever granted either Biden or any Executive Branch agencies the power to issue mandates? Where in the Constitution is such power granted? Hopefully the SCOTUS will not only rule correctly about the mandates but make the illegal nature of these mandates known to the public generally - I'm shocked so many people are ready to submit to a mandate out of deference to its Presidential source.
Well, idk how the protesters will respond but, assuming the protesters were peaceful, using attack dogs is a red line crossed and justifies appropriate escalation by protesters to protect themselves. Pepper spray or bear spray would be devastating to a dog, I imagine. And any officer participating in such thuggery should be publicly shamed and shunned.
That was amazing. Will the Dutch stand for that? I didn't think they were used to that, although remember going through their big airport, Schiphol?, and the security people struck me as absolute Nazis. Really gratuitously nasty.
Remember, back in 2020, Dutch PM Mark Rutte chose not to visit his deathly ill 96 yo mother in a nursing home in The Hague, because covid restrictions. Now, certainly beset by remorse/regret/anger, he has called protesters against the newly imposed Christmas lockdown (until Jan 14) “idiots” and “criminals.” No, the Dutch have lost their way…that fresh air of freedom that beckoned Descartes and inspired Spinoza is long gone - a shame, a great loss for Europe…
Rutte is indeed an ass (takes one to know one), but the Dutch “lost their way” long before Covid. Methinks the “air of freedom” emanating from the Netherlands has, for several generations now, carried the smell of death and decay.
I haven't traveled regularly to Europe since 2001 but spent way too much time in Schipol over many trips and spent a total of a few weeks in Netherlands prior to then. It is an interesting society. Now that I have heard the term, "Illiberal Liberalism" comes to mind to describe it.
As for the "coldness" of Northern Europe, that was in my experience spot on. I'll never forget a conversation with a young lady on a train somewhere near Hamburg. She was wearing a cowboy hat. She said: "You Americans do not realize how miserable it is to live in northern Germany." I asked why and she said "Everything is so rigid. You have no room to be yourself and are given no chance to express yourself as an individual. And the people are so cold. Not all of us but many of us."
Judges read the polls, but they do not answer to any electorate. I believe that many of them have a "constituency" that very much smaller, whose interests are quite at odds with the general population. Maybe I'm wrong about that and the judiciary is as independent as advertised. Maybe they even care about popular opinion regardless. But if I'm right, then the whims of popular opinion don't matter hardly at all, and we can make some pretty educated guesses, at this point, about who really pulls their strings and in which direction.
We've lost the legislative and executive branches to naked corruption. Will the judicial branch hold firm enough to stave off the otherwise impending complete collapse of our system of governance? I really hope and pray that it will, but I urge my fellow citizens to think hard about their plan B.
And the pollster, Zogby is a bit Democratic. Reading his weekly report card in the Washington Examiner was eye opening in his biases.
This poll bothers me a great deal and I will not celebrate it. Why? Because it shows the general ignorance of the populace (including too many Republicans) about the Constitution and thus tangentially also shows their susceptibility to authoritarian actions.
Mark, correct me in any way that you see fit but to my mind there is no Constitutional authority for Biden to issue vaccine mandates to the public or to accordingly control its behavior either directly or indirectly. The authority for all of his directives (i.e., Executive Orders) must come directly from the Constitution or by statutory authorization through Congress. He can direct government agencies to take actions to enforce statutory law but these agencies themselves are not either legislative or law enforcement bodies.
When has Congress ever granted either Biden or any Executive Branch agencies the power to issue mandates? Where in the Constitution is such power granted? Hopefully the SCOTUS will not only rule correctly about the mandates but make the illegal nature of these mandates known to the public generally - I'm shocked so many people are ready to submit to a mandate out of deference to its Presidential source.
Well, idk how the protesters will respond but, assuming the protesters were peaceful, using attack dogs is a red line crossed and justifies appropriate escalation by protesters to protect themselves. Pepper spray or bear spray would be devastating to a dog, I imagine. And any officer participating in such thuggery should be publicly shamed and shunned.
That was amazing. Will the Dutch stand for that? I didn't think they were used to that, although remember going through their big airport, Schiphol?, and the security people struck me as absolute Nazis. Really gratuitously nasty.
Remember, back in 2020, Dutch PM Mark Rutte chose not to visit his deathly ill 96 yo mother in a nursing home in The Hague, because covid restrictions. Now, certainly beset by remorse/regret/anger, he has called protesters against the newly imposed Christmas lockdown (until Jan 14) “idiots” and “criminals.” No, the Dutch have lost their way…that fresh air of freedom that beckoned Descartes and inspired Spinoza is long gone - a shame, a great loss for Europe…
Rutte is indeed an ass (takes one to know one), but the Dutch “lost their way” long before Covid. Methinks the “air of freedom” emanating from the Netherlands has, for several generations now, carried the smell of death and decay.
I remember them being coldly efficient in patting me down, and carrying sub machine guns in the terminal. This was after 9-11.
I haven't traveled regularly to Europe since 2001 but spent way too much time in Schipol over many trips and spent a total of a few weeks in Netherlands prior to then. It is an interesting society. Now that I have heard the term, "Illiberal Liberalism" comes to mind to describe it.
As for the "coldness" of Northern Europe, that was in my experience spot on. I'll never forget a conversation with a young lady on a train somewhere near Hamburg. She was wearing a cowboy hat. She said: "You Americans do not realize how miserable it is to live in northern Germany." I asked why and she said "Everything is so rigid. You have no room to be yourself and are given no chance to express yourself as an individual. And the people are so cold. Not all of us but many of us."