On election eve, economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman penned an article with a title I wish I had written, “The Last Exit Off the Road to Autocracy.”  He was talking about the looming path to an autocratic government if Republicans retained control of the U.S. House.  Perhaps Paul was being a bit melodramatic — but the voters took that off ramp.  Where will it lead?  Expect some serious oversight of President Trump’s corrupt administration.

Ballots are still being counted, with a number of races still too close to call.  Although the “blue wave” wasn’t quite powerful enough to flip the Senate, Democrats took firm control of the U.S. House, retook over 300 seats in state legislatures and won the majority (27) of the state attorneys general.   They also gained seven governorships and eliminated super majorities that Republicans held in several state legislatures, including North Carolina’s.  Not bad – not bad at all.

According to Michael Cembalest, an executive at JPMorgan Asset Management, Republican losses in the House — when compared to the strength of the economy — are the worst midterm results for a president’s party in at least a century.  And those losses would have been much greater but for the 2011 gerrymandering in numerous Republican-controlled states.

In spite of a large voter turnout for these midterms – always good for democracy — GOP gerrymandering made winning much harder for Democrats running for Congress.  Just look at the results in Ohio:  Although Democrats comprised 48 percent of the vote, they managed to win only 25 percent of the state’s seats in the House, the same percent they have held since 2012.

Still, ballot initiatives resulted in great progress on redistricting reform and other measures to strengthen our democracy.  Colorado, Michigan and Missouri voters approved proposals that will result in fairer redistricting in 2021.  Michigan and Nevada voters approved automatic voter registration, with Michigan also enacting same-day registration.  And with the election of Democrat Anita Earls to the state Supreme Court, North Carolina judges will be able to strike down the GOP’s radical gerrymandering.

Fortunately, some of the worst Tea Party Republicans will no longer walk the halls of Congress next year or infect its processes.  Far-right Rep. Dave Bratt (R-Va.) was defeated.  Former Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) chose not to run this year.  These last three gentlemen chaired the House Committee on Oversight during President Obama’s tenure.  They conducted nasty, politically motivated investigations of Democrats that Republicans will sadly rue when they face scrutiny by that committee come January.

Obviously, this election rattled Trump.  The next day he effectively fired U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and appointed one of his loyal operatives, Mathew Whitaker, as acting attorney general.  Critics are arguing that Whitaker is not only biased and unfit for the job, his appointment was unconstitutional because he was not confirmed by the Senate.  Again, Trump dares Congress to check his abuse of power.  Will that happen?  It may depend on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  He is totally focused on appointing more conservative judges so I don’t have high hopes.

The fear is, of course, that Whitaker will curtail special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.  That’s exactly what Trump wants.  McConnell, however, has consistently refused to allow a vote on legislation to protect Mueller, audaciously claiming that there is no need for congressional action. But retiring Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee that approves judicial nominations, is not buying that.  He promised to vote against all nominees unless McConnell allows a vote on a measure to protect Mueller.  We shall see.

Although the Trump sycophants that currently control Congress would probably let Whitaker do his dirty work on Mueller with faint objections, come January it will be a much different story. Democrats will command the powerful House Judiciary Committee.  Whitaker’s record of nefarious activities and crooked business ventures show that he’s not very smart but he surely knows the perils of hamstringing Mueller and obstructing justice.  We’re talking possible jail time here — so I don’t believe Mueller will be thwarted.  It’s probably too late for that anyway.

There is no doubt in my mind that 2018 will be noted as the year democracy began to fight back against Trump and the GOP.  If Republicans had retained control of the House, Trump would be king of Capitol Hill.  But they didn’t — they were crushed.  As a result, Trump is feeling threatened and acting erratic.  He may no longer be seen as an asset Republicans feel compelled to support.  In the Senate they have 12 more seats to defend in 2020 than Democrats.  I believe these GOP senators would rather throw Trump under the bus than lose their cushy positions.  The Donald is in trouble and this nation will be the better for it.

Make no mistake, we are not out of the autocratic woods yet.  Much work will be required to remove the cancer that is infecting this presidency and threatening our democracy.  But that fight has been well started and I’m confident it will succeed.

According to former ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, one Russian newspaper reacted to the Democrats winning control of the House by complaining that “our agent in the White House failed us.”

All together now: THANK GOD!!

The polls are showing many very tight midterm races across the country, a sign that Republicans could retain control of Congress in 2019.  The thoughts of another two years of President Trump — with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and likely Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) doing his bidding on Capitol Hill — are too frightening to contemplate.  But if that occurs I believe it will be due in no small part to Republican efforts to suppress voters.

In 2013 the conservative majority on the Supreme Court gutted a key section of the Voting Rights Act that required prior federal approval for voting law changes in some — mostly southern — states. Republican-controlled states immediately began passing voter ID legislation to make voting more difficult for minorities and other voter segments that typically favor Democrats.

Republicans use voter fraud as a reason for voting restrictions even though multiple studies show that illegal voting is almost nonexistent.  They don’t care; they simply lie about the statistics and continue taking extreme measures to prevent something that rarely occurs.

Voting is probably the most fundamental and important right we have as American citizens.  Without it, we have no voice in government and our fate is decided by others.  Republicans want to make sure those “others” are older white people.

Many Americans believe voter ID laws are appropriate.  A picture ID is required to fly, cash a check and even see a doctor.  Why shouldn’t everyone have to show one to vote?  Well, there are millions of people who don’t have a driver’s license, who never fly and who don’t have a bank account.  Some are elderly, some are in college and many are poor minorities.  But these laws always go much further than simply showing identification; they limit voter registrations, cut early voting days and much more.

The 2013 North Carolina voting law was a classic attempt to suppress typically Democratic votes.  It was struck down by a federal court in 2016 because the judges found that its provisions “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”   The Republican-controlled legislature did a study on when North Carolina’s black citizens vote; then they crafted the law to limit those opportunities, including Sunday voting.

Republican secretaries of state like Georgia’s Brian Kemp and Kansas’ Kris Kobach – both current candidates for governor in their states — have been aggressively purging voter rolls for years. According to a study by the Brennan Center for Justice, 1.5 million were eliminated in Georgia alone.  Purges have also occurred in Texas, Florida and other states formerly restricted by the Voting Rights Act — and many voters were eliminated secretly and without notice.

In North Dakota, which has a substantial native American population, the Republican legislature passed a law that picture IDs must have a street address to be valid for voting purposes.  They knew that Indian reservations don’t necessarily have streets marked out and that residents don’t have addresses.  I believe their intent was to limit voting by this group who mostly support Democrats, including Sen. Heidi Heitkamp who is on the ballot this year.   I think this is criminal.

In Georgia, the Republican legislature passed an “exact match” law that allowed the secretary of state’s office to reject voter registration and absentee ballot applications where the name and address did not precisely match records the state had on file.  Secretary of State Kemp was holding up 53,000 applications under this law.  Even an extra comma or space would invalidate an application.  How ridiculous can an attempt to suppress voters get?  Fortunately, a judge blocked this law from taking effect.

Closing polling places or positioning them to make voting more difficult is popular in Republican-controlled states and counties.  Examples abound in Georgia, Florida and in other – mostly southern – states. Moving polling places off college campuses is typical; so is closing them in counties with a large minority population.  A report by the Leadership Conference Education Fund found that Cochise County, Arizona, which has a 30 percent Spanish-speaking population, shutdown 63 percent of its polling places after the 2013 SCOTUS decision on voting rights.  In 2016 there was only one polling place for every 7,200 residents.

Perhaps the most egregious example of poll manipulation has recently occurred in Dodge City, Kansas.  The 13,000, mostly Hispanic, registered voters had their polling place moved a mile outside the city.  There are no bus stops nearby or sidewalks from the city to the polling place.  In a state where the average number of voters per polling place is reported to be 1,200, the voters in Dodge have only one.

Enacting discriminatory voter ID laws, purging voter rolls without informing those involved and eliminating polling places to make it harder for minorities and college students to vote should be a crime.  And those — mostly Republican — officials who have committed these acts should be prosecuted.  Intentionally destroying ballots is a crime, why shouldn’t intentionally suppressing voters call for jail time too?

If Republicans retain control of Congress after Tuesday’s election, I believe it will be primarily due to two factors — Fox News and the pervasive right-wing media as outlined in my last blog — and the undemocratic efforts of Republican officials to suppress the votes of those who support Democrats.

Instead of adopting winning policies on things like health care, Republicans try to change the rules to disenfranchise opposition voters.  I say, lock’em up.

In eight short days the results of the midterm elections will be tabulated.  Many early votes have already been cast and today I’m wondering what is influencing the moderates from both parties and the independents in this critical contest.  Is it health care, the economy, immigration or a radio/ TV talk-show host?

There are many single-issue and straight-ticket voters out there who have a mindset.  They aren’t likely to be swayed by lies, facts, logical arguments or even the character of the candidate.  But what about those who aren’t totally aligned with an issue or a party?  What motivates them?

I didn’t follow politics that much in the 1980s and the 1990s — but some transformative things were occurring then.  President Reagan infused the GOP with a tax cutting fervor that is the primary motivator of the Party to this day.  He also continued President Nixon’s efforts to bring the south into the Republican fold by courting evangelicals like Pat Robertson and televangelist Jerry Falwell.

Falwell was the primary founder of the Christian conservative Moral Majority in 1979.  Robertson had earlier founded the Christian Broadcasting Network where he has appeared on “The 700 Club” show for almost half a century.  Both had a strong media persona and millions of followers who vote.  Today, evangelicals are predominantly Republican.

Conservative radio talk-shows were gaining popularity when Rush Limbaugh began broadcasting in 1988.  He is now heard on hundreds of stations.  Talker’s Magazine compiles a list of the most listened-to radio programs.  The leaders in 2017 were Limbaugh, with 14 million weekly listeners, and Sean Hannity, who had 13.5 million.  Hannity is also a Fox News prime-time TV anchor.  Of the top 23, eight were conservative shows with over 80 million total listeners.  There was one progressive show on the list with 6.5 million listeners.  Humm!

While our house was being built in the 1990s, the carpenters would frequently listen to Limbaugh on the radio.  And I suspect numerous auto mechanics across the nation are tuned in to Rush as they service cars and many Midwest farmers on their tractors are listening to conservative talk-show hosts as they cultivate row after boring row in their fields.  These commentators make an impression and it’s entirely anti-liberal.

President George H. W. Bush actually raised taxes in 1991, violating his party’s pledge to never to do that.  Some say that’s why he lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton.  Then the midterm elections in 1994 ushered in a real turning point in politics.  Republicans regained control of Congress in 1995, taking the House for the first time in 40 years.

Newt Gingrich, a firebrand conservative from Georgia, became the speaker of the House and initiated a tough brand of conservatism.  He was power-hungry and nasty, preferring name calling, confrontation and combat to compromise.  Sound familiar?

The Fox News Channel began its programming in 1996, primarily adopting Gingrich’s hardnosed style of politics.  Both painted Democrats as socialists or maybe communists.  The “left” was often cast as a violent radical group being supported by Jewish billionaire and perennial liberal boogieman George Soros.  Limbaugh and other right-wing radio hosts were part of the chorus.

Today most Fox News anchors strongly support President Trump and Republicans.  But little-known Sinclair Broadcasting is the nation’s largest owner of local television stations, with almost 200 in 81 broadcast networks nationwide.  Pro-Trump, conservative content airs daily on their local stations, which viewers tend to trust more than the national news outlets.  And with hundreds of stations, iHeartMedia is reportedly the nation’s largest radio station owner, mostly airing news/talk shows by conservative Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and/or Hannity.

After crude explosive devices were sent to CNN and a dozen or so prominent Democrats, including Soros, many conservative commentators called it a fake (false-flag) operation conducted by liberals to get sympathy for Democrats.  Limbaugh unbelievably claimed “Republicans just don’t do this kind of thing.”  Really?  Even after the perpetrator was identified as pro-Trump, no doubt many Republicans will continue to believe as one Trump supporter put it “Obama probably sent his to hisself. [sic]” “And Hillary Clinton probably sent hers to herself.”

It follows, because after numerous GOP-led investigations and no proof found, many Republicans still believe Clinton told the military to “stand down” from defending our diplomates in Benghazi, Libya.  And many still claim Obama was born in Kenya and is a Muslim.  Do they simply want to believe these things or are they still hearing them on their local radio station?

Based on every statistic I have found, conservative media outlets are spread further and deeper across America than the so-called “liberal media” Republicans have railed against for decades.  Fox News, Limbaugh and others support Trump’s conspiracy theories and echo his fear-mongering warning of a dangerous immigrant hoard.  Some commentators attack the Democrat “mob” while either ignoring the violence-promoting, far-right Patriot Prayer group — or giving them airtime.

One bright side I could see after the 2016 election was that Republicans would quickly show they don’t know how to govern.  So far, their major accomplishment is a budget-busting tax cut they fallaciously claimed would pay for itself.

I am still confident that GOP lies will catch up with them at the polls.  But right-wing media present a substantial bulwark against those who want to put the brakes on Trump’s autocratic ways.  We will soon know if it has been breached.

Republicans finally got their messiah in 2017, a president who will implement their dogmatic policies no matter how harmful they are to the planet, the economy or the wellbeing of our citizens.  If they continue to control Congress, they will change America in ways that will even appall many conservatives.  We can’t let that happen on November 6.

When I think about the outrages that have occurred under President Trump and his congressional enablers – attacks on the press, the Justice Department, the FBI, etc. — it’s easy to speculate on what will happen if this trend continues for another two or more years.  The dire scenarios are too numerous for one blog, but where better to start than the results of last December’s massive tax cut for corporations and the wealthy.

As critics predicted, revenue losses from Trump’s so-called tax reform are massive.  Yearly federal deficits are spiking into very dangerous territory – more than a trillion dollars year – with the national debt growing toward 100 percent of the nation’s yearly economic output (GDP) by 2028.  This level of debt has not occurred since the end of World War II.  Yet, House Republicans recently passed a second round of budget busting tax cuts that will become law if they have their way.  Runaway deficits will become their excuse to severely cut Medicare, Medicaid and other social safety net programs, even Social Security.

Those voters who think Trump has brazenly abused his power since the inauguration better brace for what will come in 2019.  After the midterms he is likely to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions and deputy AG Rod Rosenstein.  Trump’s objective, of course, is to further obstruct justice by shutting down special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.  With a Trump sycophant speaker of the House like California Republican Kevin McCarthy, Mueller will be gone.  Consequently, if Democrats don’t take control of the strong oversight powers of the House next year, we may never learn what crimes Trump and his campaign committed during the 2016 election.

A recent report by the United Nations scientific panel on climate change predicts horrific consequences for our planet due to greenhouse gas emissions, perhaps as early as 2040.  The U.S. is the second largest emitter of these harmful pollutants.  Rising seas, drought and exacerbated food shortages would cause massive poverty and destabilizing refugee problems as tens of millions are forced to evacuate areas that are under water or will no longer support human populations.

Trump has called climate change a “hoax” and has begun withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement.  His EPA is axing regulations intended to reduce emissions from coal-fired power plants and other sources.  Yet, the U.N. report is clear, according to Drew Shindell — a Duke University climate scientist and an author of the report — “There is no way to mitigate climate change without getting rid of coal.”  To make matters worse, U.S. rejection of climate science and emissions regulations gives other countries license to do the same.

So long as Republicans control Congress, their head-in-the-sand attitude on global warming will prevail as government policy, as will Trump’s war on immigrants and his nationalistic foreign policy.

Seven million job openings in August show that our domestic industries and farms need immigrant workers, even illegal ones.  U.S. colleges and universities aren’t producing sufficient skilled citizens to fill the vacancies at high-tech companies and most Americans aren’t willing to supply the low-skilled labor for our farms.  Trump’s immigration policy is not only cruel, it doesn’t make economic sense.  But Republicans don’t care so long as it minimizes the nonwhites who frequently become Democrats.

Globally, Trump is withdrawing from the leadership of the free world and the protector of the liberal democratic order established by the United States after World War II.  This will open the door for other dictators like those in Venezuela and Syria.  These depots could send even more immigrants fleeing into Europe and clamoring at our borders for asylum.

Comments by conservative Republicans who have left the GOP tell it all.  Columnist George Will was one of the first to go in June 2016.  “This was not my party anymore,” said Will, when Speaker Paul Ryan(R-Wis.) endorsed Trump after he attacked a Latino judge in Indiana.

After strongly criticizing the Democrats’ handling of the Kavanaugh nomination, conservative Tom Nichols, a U.S. Naval War College professor, observed: “Republicans, however, have now eclipsed the Democrats as a threat to the rule of law and to the constitutional norms of American society.  They have become all about winning.”  Like Will, he is now an independent.

Conservative columnist and writer Max Boot gave his reason for leaving the GOP: “The Republican Party will now be defined by Trump’s dark, divisive vision, with his depiction of Democrats as America-hating, criminal-coddling traitors, his vilification of the press as the “enemy of the people,” and his ugly invective against Mexicans and Muslims.”  Boot sees extremism as the governing ideology of the party and strongly advocates voting for Democrats.

I believe the current leaders of the GOP — and most of their caucus — are more focused on their power as a political party than the strength of the nation’s democratic institutions and more protective of an unfit, autocratic President Trump than the Constitution.  The best way to preserve our democracy is to vote them out of office.

Footnote:  Click here to see what Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said about cutting Medicare, Medicaid and SS to reduce deficits.

They were celebrating at the White House Saturday after the confirmation of Judge Bret Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.  Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Republican members of Congress will tout this as a huge victory for conservatives.  And millions of President Trump’s supporters, particularly evangelicals, will now be salivating for the end of constitutionally protected abortions and gay marriage.

But for the rest of us — hopefully the majority of Americans — Kavanaugh’s confirmation means our democracy has been seriously undermined.  Republicans will control all three branches of government if Democrats don’t take the House and/or Senate in November and the separation of powers as designed by the Founders in the Constitution won’t exist.

Republicans railed against Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee for attempting to derail Kavanaugh’s confirmation.  But remember, McConnell aggressively blocked President Obama’s appointments to the federal bench and he refused to even hold hearings in 2016 when Obama nominated Judge Merrick Garland to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.  The many obstructive actions taken by McConnell during Obama’s tenure poisoned the atmosphere in the Senate.

So, it’s not surprising that the Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings were filled with drama highlighted by partisan maneuvering and heated rhetoric.  It all started with McConnell’s rush to judgement on filling the vacancy left when Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement in June.  He was desperate to get Kavanaugh seated on the Court before the end of September.  McConnell no doubt thought it would improve Republican chances in the midterm elections and he probably feared they might lose control of the Senate in November.

Most readers know the chronology of Kavanaugh’s confirmation process so I won’t repeat it in detail here.  But McConnell’s plan seemed to be working for the first few weeks and he was ready to schedule a vote after Democrats were blocked from a comprehensive review of Kavanaugh’s extensive paper trail.  Then the bombshell letter from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford surfaced, claiming that a drunken Kavanaugh had sexually assaulted her when both were in high school in the early 1980s.

Kavanaugh gave an unprecedented interview on Fox News to plead his case.  Some friends and acquaintances signed letters that were supportive of the judge but others wrote articles and gave interviews that seriously contradicted Kavanaugh’s drinking denials.  After Ford’s emotional, compelling and credible testimony, many observers began to wonder how Kavanaugh could recover when it was his turn to testify.

Reports indicate that Kavanaugh was told to show how he really felt about the hearing process and it was very revealing.  Reading from his own written statement he said:

“This whole two-week effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump and the 2016 election, fear that has been unfairly stoked about my judicial record, revenge on behalf of the Clintons, and millions of dollars in money from outside left-wing opposition groups,” He almost snarled “This is a circus.”

After the backlash to this highly political defense, Kavanaugh wrote an exculpatory op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, again, unprecedented for a nominee.  Even so, a letter opposing his confirmation was signed by 2,400 law professors and former Justice John Paul Stevens — a Gerald Ford nominee — said Kavanaugh was not qualified to serve on the Court.  But this opposition didn’t matter to McConnell and his Republican caucus.

The FBI supplemental background investigation that was forced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az.) was depicted as sham by many, no doubt restricted by the White House.  Kavanaugh and Ford were not interviewed.  Numerous persons with knowledge of Kavanaugh’s high school and college escapades attempted to contact the FBI but were rebuffed.  So, Republicans, including Flake, called this incomplete FBI report “thorough” and ignored all other evidence.

Personally, I believe Dr. Ford was telling the truth.  And it is entirely possible that Kavanaugh has no memory of the party or the attack on Ford.  Perhaps the night’s events left no lasting impression on him; heavy, possibly binge, drinking can do that.

It seems clear from the facts and testimony, however, that Kavanaugh did not tell the truth about his past and his drinking.  It is also obvious to me that his written and spoken statements show a lack of judicial temperament and a strong conservative bias that should disqualify him to serve on any court.

Kavanaugh was confirmed by the narrowest margin of any justice since 1881 — 50 to 48.  Throughout his tenure there will be as asterisk by his name and his opinions will be dissected for political bias.  Robert Post, the former dean of Yale Law School where Kavanaugh graduated in 1990, said in an op-ed that Kavanaugh will “undermine the [Supreme Court’s] claim to legitimacy,” calling his confirmation “an American tragedy.”

This fiasco by Republicans could scar the Senate for decades.  The FBI’s reputation has suffered.  And Kavanaugh’s highly partisan, unsubstantiated accusations of a “political hit” will further divide this nation.  But the biggest losers are the millions of women who are sexually assaulted and fear being ridiculed like Dr. Ford was for speaking out.

If there is any glimmer of hope for the future of the Court and its independence it is Chief Justice John Roberts.  He could – I say could – become the swing vote in order to preserve his legacy as Chief Justice and protect the reputation of this critically important institution.  We shall see.

After all of the books about President Donald Trump – the latest being Bob Woodward’s “Fear” – is there any doubt that the man in the Oval Office is unfit?  We don’t need $30 books, however, to form a reasonable conclusion that Trump has no business running this country; he proves it almost every day with his tweets.  No doubt Trump is weakening our democracy but I believe there is a much more ominous threat – the conservative-controlled Supreme Court.

Warren Burger was Chief Justice when Roe v. Wade was decided and he was still presiding when I was sworn in to practice before this prestigious body.  It was simply a box checked on my resume; I never argued a case before the Court nor planned to.  Still, it was a sobering experience.

The session began promptly at 10:00 AM with the traditional chant by the Court’s Marshal (bailiff).  This short recitation is repeated each day the Court is in session and ends with “God save the United States and this Honorable Court!”  Then the curtain behind the elevated bench opened and the nine robed justices stepped out in unison to take their seats.  It’s a very formal ceremony and quite intimidating for lawyers waiting to argue their cases.  For this is the most powerful institution in the nation — the court of last resort.

No doubt that’s why Republicans have placed such great emphasis on filling Supreme Court vacancies over the years.  And if Judge Bret Kavanaugh — the current nominee — is confirmed, conservatives will have the most rock-solid, five-member majority on the Court in the past 30 years.

Many Republicans, particularly evangelical Christians, have worked tirelessly to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that provides women with a constitutional right to an abortion in the United States.  Recent polls indicate that their efforts conflict with a majority of Americans that don’t want this landmark decision eradicated.  It’s an emotional, polarizing issue.

Four Republican-appointed justices on the Court are members of the Federalist Society, an elitist organization of pro-life conservatives and libertarians whose members believe the Constitution should be interpreted as written.  Kavanaugh would make it five.  They are all “originalists” — judges who attempt to divine how the Founders intended the Constitution to be interpreted and make their decisions accordingly.  So, I believe there’s a good chance Roe v. Wade will go down.

But I don’t think that’s the worst this Court can do.  Just look at some of the decisions conservative justices have made during the past 20 years.  In the 2010 Citizens United case, they took a narrow issue involving a 2008 video critical of former First Lady Hillary Clinton and issued an unnecessarily broad opinion.   The Court essentially held that corporations and unions are people under the Constitution’s First Amendment and that money is speech.  As a result, wealthy, even anonymous, special interests can unduly influence elections with unlimited amounts of money.

In 2013 the conservative majority struck down a key section of the Voting Rights Act that required certain states to get advanced federal approval for changes to voting laws.  The involved states, including Texas, North Carolina and others that were controlled by Republicans, immediately enacted or implemented strict voter ID laws that were specifically designed to make it harder for those who typically vote for Democrats to cast ballots.   These laws went far beyond simply showing a picture ID to vote.  They shortened early voting days, restricted voter registration and much more.

But the future could be even more problematic.  Republican’s continue to attack the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) and Kavanaugh’s vote may be all they need to scuttle it.   Medicare, Medicaid and other social safety net programs could also be in jeopardy from GOP attacks.

Legal issues involving the president are sure to come before the Court.  If Kavanaugh is confirmed, we can almost be certain that his decisions will favor Trump.  Can he be subpoenaed to testify to a grand jury?  Can he be indicted as a sitting president for the crimes he has likely committed?  Should he even be the subject of an investigation?  Kavanaugh would probably decide: No!

Republicans have focused on appointing conservative federal judges for decades and Trump could appoint hundreds more.  I fear that in time these jurists will rubber stamp conservative policies on government regulations, climate change, religion, health care and immigration while erecting roadblocks for progressive legislation.  In fact, that is exactly what Republicans want.

Let me be clear; liberal justices should not dominate the agenda either.  The Court should be balanced and definitely nonpartisan.  And the majority should not be wedded to an originalist ideology that applies 18th century thinking to 21st century issues.

Trump has divided this nation like no other president in modern history.  If this continues, progressive legislation passed by a Democratic controlled Congress in the future will likely face unrelenting conservative challenges.  Likewise, liberals will challenge conservative legislation and policies.  In this scenario, the Court could actually become the de facto government, virtually dictating what the executive branch can do and what Congress can legislate.  I believe Kavanaugh’s confirmation would be a step in this direction.

Hopefully, the polarization of the Trump era will subside and voters will unite under centrist, progressive leadership.  But the conservative Court could hold sway for an entire generation — and there’s not much we citizens can do about it.

The two-room country schoolhouse where I learned to read and write was demolished decades ago and the site is now a vacant, weed-covered lot that speaks not a word of its past.  Yet, it’s all very clear in my memory.  I can picture the dirty-white, clapboard building – the two privies near the cornfield out back — the swings and the teetertotters on the playground where my classmates and I frolicked during recess — and the hand pump on the well near the porch that was our only source of water.

Our teacher, Mrs. Mershon, took a picture of her 30 students in grades K-3 and put it in a small picture album as a gift for her third-grade graduating class.  Many of these students were products of a hardscrabble existence in the rural Midwest.  I was among the more fortunate ones.

My friend Larry was a victim of the endemic poverty in this area, a small kid, kind of frail looking, but quite smart.  He could have been a teacher or a doctor — but I have been unable to find that he even graduated high school.

One summer day following second grade I was playing at Larry’s home around noon.  His mother invited me to have lunch with Larry and her two other children.  She served a piece of bread flavored with melted bacon grease, a small amount of home fried potatoes and a like amount of creamed corn.  I was not accustomed to such fare and when I left most of it on my plate, the siblings fought over it.

These memories all came rushing back as I was reading an article about the 2018 farm bill that recently passed in the Republican-controlled House.  This five-year, $867 billion legislation is one of the most important actions Congress takes and it is usually a bipartisan process.  But House conservatives frustrated the negotiations this year by including provisions to revise the eligibility formulas for the 42 million recipients of food stamps and adding work requirements for that benefit.

The nonpartisan research firm, Mathematica, used data from the Agriculture Department’s Food and Nutrition Service to determine that almost two million low-income Americans — including 469,000 households with young children — would be purged from the program due to the changed qualification criteria.  A separate analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that an additional 1.2 million would lose food stamp benefits due to the work requirements.

Mathematica also found that seniors in 677,000 households would lose benefits, along with one in 10 people with a disability, another 214,000 households.  The elderly, the disabled and children comprise two-thirds of food stamp beneficiaries.

As the House was narrowly passing its farm bill, the Agriculture Department announced that 15 million households reported being “food insecure” in 2017.  This means they struggled to put adequate food on the table.  We don’t know how many children are in these families but no doubt there are millions.

Like most Americans, I can’t stand the thought of a child going most days without adequate nourishment or going to bed hungry.  My wife and I have frequently joined our neighbors, conservative and liberal alike, in providing foodstuffs for backpack programs.  They provide needy school kids with supplemental provisions for the weekends when school lunches aren’t provided.  Hungry children have difficulty concentrating on their studies and paying attention in class.  As a result, they fall behind and many don’t grow up to be productive adults.

Now the House and the Senate are negotiating over their two competing farm bills.  Both provide billions in subsidies for agricultural states that have been hit hard by President Trump’s tariffs and falling commodity prices — the less onerous Senate bill is expected to prevail.  But Trump has called for the final passage of the House version of the legislation, particularly the section on work requirements.  His political base abhors government “welfare,” and they are his main priority.

The food stamp program didn’t exist when I was a child but I’m sure many of my elementary school families would have easily qualified for it, along with Medicaid and other government programs.  These benefits might have helped my friend Larry realize his full potential.  But all I can do is speculate and think – what a waste if he didn’t.

Conservatives constantly rail about the excesses and fraud in government safety net programs and seek arbitrary ways to purge beneficiaries from the rolls.  Sure, they may eliminate some adults who shouldn’t qualify for food stamps and Medicaid.  But what about the tens of thousands of children who lose critically needed benefits in the process?

I keep asking myself, what motivates Republican politicians like Freedom Caucus radicals Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), to name a few.  They eagerly give trillions in tax cuts to the wealthy and throw money at defense contractors that squander tens of billions on expensive weapons systems.  Yet, they want to cut funding for food stamps to save a few billion.  Are they bought and paid for by greedy plutocrats — or is it just the result of their ultra-conservative mindset?

To me it’s so obvious — children are our future.  We should do everything we can to enable them to grow up mentally and physically strong and healthy.  We should help them to become winners in our society – instead of losers to right-wing ideology.

No, it doesn’t start with “once upon a time” or “in the beginning.”   The opening words are, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. —- They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.”  Yes, it starts with a candidate for president of the United States declaring that his campaign will be based on bigotry and prejudice.  It starts –of course — with Donald J. Trump.   And in him the right-wing has found a leader who they believe will turn their intolerance into policy and their desire for political supremacy into reality.

But there’s a long prologue to this this saga.  And I believe it began with the presidency of Ronald Reagan in 1981 and the concurrent budding careers of former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).  I disagree with many things Reagan did as president but I think he actually cared about America, the “shining city upon a hill” as he called it. Gingrich, McConnell and many of their colleagues are totally obsessed with power and Republican Party dominance.

Reagan is responsible for a tax cutting fervor in the GOP that has morphed into a pledge by most members to never raise taxes on anything, ever.  This is a pernicious policy, particularly when Republicans are driven to continually cut taxes, mainly for the wealthy.  Although they claim that lower taxes will grow the economy, I believe their objective is to cause ever-increasing federal deficits and use the red ink as an excuse to severely slash funding for the social safety net.

Reagan’s policies didn’t create an economic miracle as his devotees claim.  But they dramatically increased the share of the nation’s wealth held by the richest Americans. Union membership began to shrink during Reagan’s tenure — declining from 20 percent of the workforce in 1983 to less than 11 percent today – and along with it the middleclass.  This shift of economic power gave wealthy Republican supporters tremendous political clout and significantly weakened the voice of “we the people” in elections.

Gingrich was responsible for guiding the GOP on a nasty turn to the right when he became Speaker of the House in 1995.  He eschewed compromise with Democrats, portrayed liberals as traitors — or worse — and supported his ultra-conservative clones in elections.  He has been credited with falsely tying the media to liberals and elitists in a conspiracy against the American public.  Gingrich created a toxic atmosphere in the House that I believe continues to cripple bipartisanship in that chamber to this day.

Gingrich resigned from the House “under a cloud” in 1999.  He was succeeded as Speaker by like-minded Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) who initiated the existing GOP policy to never bring any legislation to the floor for a vote unless it is supported by a majority of the Republican caucus.  Thus, many bills that have significant bipartisan support and legislation that is mainly supported by Democrats is stymied.  That’s not democracy.

McConnell deserves every anti-democratic charge that can be leveled against him.  He was mainly responsible for obstructing President Barack Obama for eight years, aided by a Tea Party sweep of the House in 2010.  He didn’t care that the nation was in the throws of the worst recession since the Great Depression; he weaponized the filibuster in the Senate to impede everything the president tried to do.

McConnell was not deterred by the hundreds of cases that were clogging the federal courts as he blocked Obama’s appointments to the federal bench.  Nor was he concerned when he prevented Obama from filling important executive branch positions.  And he infamously refused to even hold hearings on Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland for a position on the Supreme Court.  This and other actions by McConnell virtually destroyed comity in the Senate.

But what I find significant about McConnell’s strategy is his lack of concern about political reprisals for his totally partisan actions, including ramming Trump’s conservative appointments to the federal courts through the Senate.   He acts as if Democrats will never have an opportunity to do the same to Republicans.  In fact, McConnell’s tactics seem to anticipate long term, perhaps permanent, GOP control of the government.

Which brings me back to President Trump who has his own plan for dominating the government.  Like Gingrich and many other Republicans, he attacks the mainstream media, calling them the “enemy of the people.”  With very little pushback from spineless congressional Republicans, Trump assaults the Justice Department, the FBI and the rule of law.  He apparently thinks his word should be the law.

Clearly, Trump is on a route to a Trumpocracy with state-controlled media, an autocratic government and suppressed individual freedoms.  It’s a destination where the wealthy few will control the multitudes – where the average American will struggle to secure health care and prosperity — where freedom of religion is only for Christians — and where freedom of the press is only for right-wing media.  It is a path we do not want to take and a result we must avoid at all costs.

Yes, the saddest story ever told is about the GOP quest for political dominance, Donald Trump’s authoritarianism and the eventual demise of democracy in the United States.  But the last chapter is still just an outline.  So, voters can take a giant step in November toward ensuring that this tragic ending is never written.

The oath of office that government officials and lawyers must take has been on my mind a lot recently.  It’s a solemn pledge that I have taken at least seven times, as a government employee, as a soldier and as an attorney.  Oath takers swear to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”  To me, the pledge of alliance to the flag is similar – but not nearly as personal.  The oath is more than passive support; it connotes a duty to actively engage in its commitments. Every time I have raised my right hand and recited these words the effect is both physical and mental.  It does something to my spine – a chill perhaps — and my chest – a swelling with pride in being a citizen of this great nation, dedicated to its cause.

My most memorable oath was in the chambers of Oklahoma House of Representatives when I was sworn in for the first time as an attorney at law and an officer of the court.  Over the years since then it remained in the back of my mind as my obligation to uphold the rule of law and comply with the attorney’s code of ethics was tested by corporate clients.  And it is front and center in my brain today as I hear President Trump violate his oath of office almost daily and listen to the numerous Republican members of Congress who are being tested as a result.

With a few exceptions like Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who is not up for reelection this year, and Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az.), who will not seek reelection in 2018, Trump can attack the Justice Department and the FBI with precious little pushback from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) or his caucus.  The president can make racist comments, tell the most audacious lies, demean dedicated public servants and attempt to obstruct justice in plain sight.  These spineless politicians, many of whom have served in Congress for decades, shrug and make excuses or tell us about the good things Trump has done.  They have been cowed into submission by a tinhorn con man who has no thought of defending the Constitution.  In fact, he is attacking it and they are letting or abetting him.

Trump recently called the Justice Department “corrupt” and blamed President Obama’s administration.  He derides Attorney General Jeff Sessions constantly for rightly recusing himself from the Russia investigation.   And while Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) once promised to protect his old friend from Alabama, he now casually observes that Sessions will probably be fired after the midterm elections.  “The president’s entitled to an attorney general he has faith in,” Graham observed.  “Clearly, Attorney General Sessions doesn’t have the confidence of the president.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, tried to support Sessions not too long ago by saying his committee would not have time to confirm a new AG.  Now he says he will make time.  Both of these Senators know full well that Trump’s devious purpose in replacing Sessions is to stop special counsel Robert Mueller and the Russia investigation.  These cowardly sycophants — and most of their Republican colleges — are turning their backs on the Constitution to support their party and a corrupt administration.  They have no shame or honor.

Well, I believe it is too late to stop Mueller and his team.  There are too many dedicated public servants in Justice and the FBI — Democrats and Republicans alike — who won’t allow the evidence they have gathered to be swept under the rug.  They too have taken the oath and I am confident the majority will abide by it, maybe even Sessions.  A former Watergate prosecutor recently confirmed that copies of the evidence against President Richard Nixon and his co-conspirators had been taken to secure locations out of fear Nixon would shut the official investigation down.  I suspect the same is being done by Mueller’s team.

But thankfully the Russia investigation is not the only effort to reveal the truth about Trump’s nefarious dealings.  New York State officials are examining Michael Cohen’s guilty plea to determine if state laws were broken by Cohen, Trump or the Trump organization.  This could result in charges against members of Trump’s family or his company and the president can’t pardon violations of state law.

An even better opportunity to derail Trump’s assault on the Constitution will occur if the Democrats take control of the U.S. House next year.  They will have the oversight power that Republicans in that body weaponized against the Obama administration and former secretary of State Hillary Clinton for political purposes.  Except their investigations will uncover actual wrongdoing, including the many conflicts of interest and other corrupt activities involving Trump and his administration.  That’s why the upcoming election is so important, not just for Democrats but for the rule of law and the entire nation.

Yes, I have been thinking a lot about the oath of office lately and about the heroic men and women in our military and our law enforcement departments who – after taking it – gave their lives to achieve its objectives.  If I could remind every Republican in Congress of the oath they took to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, perhaps – just perhaps — some of them might decide that now is the time for them to be heroic too.

Early in my adult life I got up close and personal with Kentucky during Army basic training at Fort Knox.  For sure the eight weeks of hell I endured there left an impression on me but what stayed more in my memory were the Kentuckians who trained alongside me and who shared my barracks.

It all started at the reception center where we were being issued uniforms and gear.  There I met a dozen or so young men — boys really – who were National Guard trainees from the mountains in the eastern part of the state.  All were poorly educated and several could neither read nor write.  Most had difficulty coping with military discipline and it occurred to me that their opportunities for a decent life were limited.  I was shocked and saddened by their plight.

Over the years the Bluegrass State didn’t appear much on my radar screen until several years ago when I started writing a column for a local newspaper.  My research soon focused on the dire economic status of the nation’s poorest states, most of which were controlled by Republicans.  It puzzled me; why would they vote for the anti-union GOP that favors the wealthy, refuses to raise the minimum wage and opposes government programs for needy people?  Kentucky stood out as the obvious poster child for these states.

Kentucky is 87 percent white with a small black population and an insignificant number of Latinos.  Almost half of its residents are evangelical Christians, second highest percentage in the nation.  Walmart is its largest single employer.  And the coal industry, which gets lots of media attention, employs less than 6,300 workers.

By almost every measure, many Kentucky residents still struggle to be happy, healthy and prosperous — and the recent statistics dramatically indicate why:

• Around eight percent are on disability, the fourth highest in the nation.
• Thirty-three percent have preexisting health conditions, tied for third highest.
• Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) cover almost 30 percent of Kentucky’s residents and 62 percent of its children.
• Kentucky is among the 10 poorest states with a median income of under $47,000.
• Food stamps help feed 655,000 of its residents, one out of every seven.
• It is number two of the states most dependent on federal government assistance.
• Drug overdoses took 1,565 Kentucky lives in 2017, a 40 percent increase over five years.

In 2013, then-Democratic Governor Steven L. Beshear courageously tried to help his suffering constituents.  He established the state’s very successful Affordable Care Act health insurance exchange called Kynect.  And he expanded Medicaid in 2014, providing health care insurance to more than 500,000 additional Kentuckians.  But as they became more dependent on federal support, Kentucky voters inexplicably tacked harder to the right.

In 2014 they elected Tea Party Republican Matt Bevin as governor, a candidate who promised to abolish Kynect and cancel Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.  He wanted to eliminate Obamacare, even though Kentucky would be the third state most damaged by its repeal.  Bevin managed to shutdown Kynect.  But when Medicaid expansion proved too popular for him to ax, he received federal permission as the first state to impose strict work requirements on Medicaid recipients.  Bevin threatens to dismantle the Medicaid expansion if the courts block this plan.

To make matters worse, Kentucky’s legislature recently passed a typical GOP flat-rate income tax of five percent for everyone.  This law nearly doubled the cigarette tax and imposed sales taxes on 17 additional services, including auto repair, pet care and recreational activities.  As a result, small companies and Kentucky residents with average incomes will face tax increases and higher earners will get tax cuts.

I feel sorry for today’s Kentuckians, just like I did for those in my basic training unit.  But they keep voting for Republicans like Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul, politicians who promote policies that will hurt Kentucky families.  There’s not much I can do to help people who vote against their self-interest; so why should I give them a second thought?

The problem is, Kentucky and similar needy states like Oklahoma, Alabama, and Louisiana — to name a few — elect Republicans to Congress who control the legislative agenda.  These four are among 14 GOP-led states that have a combined population less than California’s almost 40 million.  But they have 28 members in the Senate – including Senate Majority Leader McConnell.  Consequently, wealthier, urban states are being dominated by Senators from poorer, rural states.

To control the U.S. House, GOP state legislatures have gerrymandered congressional districts to favor Republican candidates.  And they’ve enacted election laws that make it harder for typical Democrats to cast ballots.  This results in electing Republicans whose billionaire financial supporters advocate conservative policies that will make these states even poorer.

I truly believe that the United States does much better when all Americans are doing better.  But working people — whose wages are basically stagnant — received little financial help from the Republicans’ tax cut while the wealthy revel in its benefits.  To me, that’s not a sustainable economic situation for Kentucky or any other state.

So yes, I have good reason to care about Kentucky and not just because I’m concerned about its struggling citizens.  Kentucky is emblematic of the Republican states whose right-wing politicians want to impose their failing ideology on the entire nation.

All voters should keep Kentucky in mind come November.