The Coronavirus Fourteen Weeks Later - DACA, Statues and Other News

Once again, Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the four liberal members of the Supreme Court in making a controversial decision. I recall when Roberts was testifying before the Senate, he described the job of a Justice as the "calling of balls and strikes." That approach dd not last very long. Recall that when he sided with the four liberal Justices in upholding the ACA (Obamacare), Roberts saw fit to rewrite the law to accomplish the goal of upholding its constitutionality. Although the law clearly stated that people would pay a "penalty" for failing to buy insurance, Roberts felt that a penalty for inaction could not be upheld under the Commerce Clause. Therefore, and notwithstanding the language of the statute and the comments by Obama calling it a penalty, Roberts found a way to uphold the law by calling the "penalty" a "tax," and upholding the ACA as part of the government's taxing power. Roberts rewrote the law in order to uphold its constitutionality. Of course, the four liberal justices were willing to uphold the law by calling the payment a "penalty" or "tax" or anything else.

Prior to signing his executive order on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Obama expressed his opinion that, as President, he had no authority to act alone on immigration matters. "I am not king. I can't do these things just by myself." And, with "respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations, through executive order, that's just not the case." Further: "I can't just bypass Congress and change the law myself...that's not how a democracy works." Of course, then he went ahead and did it on his own anyway. When Trump's Acting Secretary of Homeland Security declared that DACA was unlawful (as Obama even said before he did it), the Supreme Court said that was not good enough. Roberts, in writing the majority opinion, claimed that the Court was not deciding "whether DACA or its rescission are sound policies." Right.

Then why does Roberts tell us that these DACA individuals "enrolled in degree programs, embarked on careers, started businesses, purchased homes and even married and had children" based on the protections afforded by the DACA order. Roberts also discussed the economic consequences of rescinding DACA; and said the Homeland Security Secretary's failure to consider these issues made the Trump order "arbitrary and capricious." At this point I have no desire to uproot hundreds of thousands of people brought here illegally by their parents. But let's be honest. The issues that Roberts addressed are all within the purview of the Congress - not within an executive order, and certainly not within the power of a Court that is supposed to call "balls and strikes." As Justice Thomas said in his dissent: "The decision to rescind an unlawful agency action is per se lawful." And let's be clear about something else - lawlessness breeds lawlessness.

"Where does it stop?" That is what President Trump asked in 2017 with, at first, confederate statues being taken down. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week. And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" Many of us asked the same questions. Now we know. After three weeks of protests in Portland, down came statues of both Jefferson and Washington. We will need to remove their names from the history books. We will need to rename Washington, D.C., our nation's capital. In London, someone defaced the base of Winston Churchill's statue, saying Churchill "was a racist." The BBC News reports that Churchill expressed beliefs in the superiority of certain races. But so what? Do we overlook the fact that Churchill, along with FDR and Stalin, led the fight to defeat the greatest racist and anti-Semite in history? These people protesting some of these statues are children, even if not chronologically so. Because they expect perfection in those we honor; and the standards by which they judge people are by today's standards, ignoring the times in which they lived. These naive people (children) expect perfection in people as they do in a society. The US is not perfect, so the US is no good. I would say to these people: Grow up!

Larry Elder, a conservative talk radio host and author, made a video discussing the idea of "systemic racism." Elder is black. You want to get ahead, get into the middle class? It's simple, said Elder. Three simple steps towards the middle class. 1. Finish high school. 2. Get a full time job. 3. Do not have kids before age 21. These findings were supported by both the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, and the Brookings Institute, a liberal think tank.

Apparently, the "summer of love" in the CHOP (formerly the CHAZ) in Seattle is not going as well as the idiot Mayor suggested. Two people were shot, including a 19 year old who died from his injuries. When a group of police officers attempted to enter the CHOP they were forced back by a much larger crowd of protesters. The Mayor has forbid the use of tear gas to disperse large crowds. The first job of government is protect the people they serve. The Mayor and Governor appear to be unwilling to do that. They should be prosecuted for willful neglect of their duties by the United States Attorney in Washington, and removed from their respective offices.

The most popular police show(s) ever are the various "Law & Order" series. Starting with the original "Law & Order," to "Law & Order - Criminal Intent," to now the longest running show of the series, "Law & Order - Special Victims Unit." Mariska Hargitay, playing Olivia Benson, started as a detective in the SVU, but eventually moved up to Captain, and now runs the unit. But Rolling Stone magazine is not happy. Bad cops are no good - we can all agree on that. But good cops are no good either. Rolling Stone: "No matter how much you love Olivia Benson, you have to be willing to grapple with the fact that she plays a major role in perpetuating the idea that cops are inherently trustworthy and heroic...and that many viewers are unable to distinguish between the gossamer fantasy of how justice should be handled, and how it actually is." Typical elitism. The Rolling Stone knows what's best for viewers, because the average person is unable to figure out real life on their own. I can only imagine what these people would say about "Father Knows Best," "The Donna Reed Show," "Ozzie and Harriet," or "The Cosby Show."

Susan Rice was Obama's Ambassador to the UN, and National Security Adviser. She is a contender for Biden's VP. She said this election was about removing Trump and getting Biden in the White House, and "consign(ing) those who supported him (Trump) in the Senate to the trash heap of history." So, Trump supporters are garbage. As happens with some frequency, Rice's son does not share her politics. He supports Trump, and was the President of the Stanford College Republicans. But Rice tells us: "we have made a very conscious decision to put what binds us - our love as a family, our history, our aspirations, far above our political and policy differences." Now, if she only felt the same way about her fellow Americans.

Some numbers. The latest week's unemployment numbers had 1,508,000 more people applying for benefits. The result is a 13 week total of 45,740,000 claims. I no longer know what to even say about that. A Gallup Poll (reported by CNN) found that only 42% of the respondents said they were "extremely proud" to be an American. Party differences were substantial, with 67% of Republicans being extremely proud, but only 24% of Democrats feeling extremely proud to be an American. In another poll by Fox, people were asked what is motivating them to vote for their candidate for president. Among Biden supporters, 63% said it was fear of Trump winning, with only 31% voicing enthusiasm for their candidate. But for Trump supporters it was the reverse, as 62% were enthusiastic in supporting him, with only 33% saying they were motivated by the fear of Biden winning.

The latest numbers (as of last night) showed a total of 2,300,000 cases of coronavirus in the US, with 121,000 deaths. New York had 387,000 cases and 24,710 deaths. California moved into second place with 169,000 (plus 3,893 new cases) and 5,424 deaths (plus 64 new fatalities). Then New Jersey with 169,000 cases and 12,857 deaths, Illinois with 136,000 cases and 6,625 deaths, and Texas with 108,000 cases and 2,165 deaths. Los Angeles County had 81,636 cases and 3,110 deaths, continuing to far exceed what might be expected based on the county's percentage of the state's population.

And, to end with a feel good story. This is out of London. A black man at a BLM protest carried a white man to safety, rather than let the surrounding mob beat the man. He and four other protesters surrounded the man so that he could be carried to safety. Said the hero: "We did what we had to do. We stopped somebody from being killed." He went on to say that if the three cops standing around George Floyd did the same thing, Floyd would be alive today. Amen to that.