Fidget Spinners
24/01/20 04:25
Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the impeachment trail in the United States Senate, is a pretty low key judge. He isn’t quick to admonish the managers or the defense. He did make one statement to both sides, intending his comments to be taken equally by both, asking them to remember the decorum required of the somber occasion. From what I can tell by reading accounts and watching a few video clips he has maintained order through the hours of arguments that are being presented. At one point he did state that the United States State was the world’s greatest deliberative body.
I think that this observation is mistaken. The senate, especially in recent years, has not demonstrated much ability when it comes to deliberation. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed over 400 bills that have not even been taken up for debate in the United States Senate. Since the Senate refused to even debate the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, the Senate has been marked not by deliberation but by blocking action. The chamber is divided into two sides so that Democrats and Republicans can enter the chamber and go to their seats without even talking to each other. Speeches are made on the floor of the Senate without anyone listening. Senators have developed a lot of very bad habits that wouldn’t be tolerated in a high school classroom.
There is more deliberation in a single high school debate than the United State Senate displays in an entire year. There is a great tradition of deliberation in the Senate, but the current generation certainly does not live up to that tradition.
As I watched a bit of the trial, I wondered what it must feel like to be Chief Justice Roberts. He can’t avoid noticing that the Senators act like bored children. They rush to the cloak roam to use their phones when the other side is talking. Senator Richard Burr was passing out fidget spinners. At least three Senators, including Burr were spotted playing with the devices during the trial. In any other proceeding in any courtroom in the United States the judge would admonish those so childishly distracting others. So far the entire proceeding seems to be nearly pointless because there appear to be no senators willing to listen and weigh evidence. They have all made up their minds about the vote. They all had their minds made up before the proceeding began. Surprises are very unlikely.
Again, I am wondering how this must feel to Justice Roberts. After all, his name will forever be associated with the decision of the Supreme Court that set up the conditions under which the impeachment is proceeding. John Roberts wrote the initial opinion of the Supreme Court in the case known as Citizens United v. FEC. That decision opened the door for unlimited money in political campaigns, judged corporate bodies to have the same speech rights as individuals and opened the floodgates to such excessive spending in political campaigns that US Senators have become focused only on their funders and have largely forgotten their constituents. Instead of representing the citizens of states, US Senators now represent the interests of highly wealthy, and often anonymous, donors.
The chaos that Roberts has to face every day of the Impeachment trial is a chaos in which he had a large part creating. I wonder how it feels to him.
The kind of civics education that was taken for granted when I was in high school has now fallen by the wayside. In my high school experience, as was common at the time, we had three separate courses in civics and government that were required for graduation. These days only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of high school civics education. Thirty require a half year. South Dakota is one of those states. Our neighbors in Nebraska and Montana are among the eleven states that require no civics education. With this stunning decline in basic education in how government works, or is supposed to work, we shouldn’t be surprised that Americans are willing to accept minority rule. Two institutions that are bastions of minority rule, historic leftovers of the time of slavery, are the United States Senate and the Electoral College. Both are institutions which function to override the will of the majority. Those we have a US President who lost the popular vote. And he isn’t the first one. And we have a senate where legislation can be blockaded and members are allowed to spend more time raising funds from a few selected donors than they do listening the the citizens of the states they are supposed to represent. And the citizens of those states have come to believe that they have little power to change the situation.
The system is broken.
I wonder what it feels like to Chief Justice John Roberts to be officiating at a trial where despite official rules and protocols, those who should be listening and carefully deliberating are not taking their responsibilities seriously. Before the proceedings began, the Chief Justice swore a solemn oath to “do impartial justice.” Then he administered that oath to the senators. At least two of whom, Senators McConnell and Graham, had already publicly declared that they have no intention of honoring that oath. McConnell said on Fox News: “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. there will be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how we handle this to the extent that we can.” Graham said, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
So much for sacred oaths.
Political grandstanding for the sake of attracting the attention of potential donors to ludicrously expensive campaigns should make every citizen of the country concerned. This trial is a test of the resilience of this fragile experiment in democracy that we call our nation.
the legacy of the Chief Justice is just one of the things that hangs in the balance as we proceed. These are perilous times. And the senators are handing out fidget spinners because they are bored. How I wish they would pay attention.
I think that this observation is mistaken. The senate, especially in recent years, has not demonstrated much ability when it comes to deliberation. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed over 400 bills that have not even been taken up for debate in the United States Senate. Since the Senate refused to even debate the appointment of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court, the Senate has been marked not by deliberation but by blocking action. The chamber is divided into two sides so that Democrats and Republicans can enter the chamber and go to their seats without even talking to each other. Speeches are made on the floor of the Senate without anyone listening. Senators have developed a lot of very bad habits that wouldn’t be tolerated in a high school classroom.
There is more deliberation in a single high school debate than the United State Senate displays in an entire year. There is a great tradition of deliberation in the Senate, but the current generation certainly does not live up to that tradition.
As I watched a bit of the trial, I wondered what it must feel like to be Chief Justice Roberts. He can’t avoid noticing that the Senators act like bored children. They rush to the cloak roam to use their phones when the other side is talking. Senator Richard Burr was passing out fidget spinners. At least three Senators, including Burr were spotted playing with the devices during the trial. In any other proceeding in any courtroom in the United States the judge would admonish those so childishly distracting others. So far the entire proceeding seems to be nearly pointless because there appear to be no senators willing to listen and weigh evidence. They have all made up their minds about the vote. They all had their minds made up before the proceeding began. Surprises are very unlikely.
Again, I am wondering how this must feel to Justice Roberts. After all, his name will forever be associated with the decision of the Supreme Court that set up the conditions under which the impeachment is proceeding. John Roberts wrote the initial opinion of the Supreme Court in the case known as Citizens United v. FEC. That decision opened the door for unlimited money in political campaigns, judged corporate bodies to have the same speech rights as individuals and opened the floodgates to such excessive spending in political campaigns that US Senators have become focused only on their funders and have largely forgotten their constituents. Instead of representing the citizens of states, US Senators now represent the interests of highly wealthy, and often anonymous, donors.
The chaos that Roberts has to face every day of the Impeachment trial is a chaos in which he had a large part creating. I wonder how it feels to him.
The kind of civics education that was taken for granted when I was in high school has now fallen by the wayside. In my high school experience, as was common at the time, we had three separate courses in civics and government that were required for graduation. These days only nine states and the District of Columbia require one year of high school civics education. Thirty require a half year. South Dakota is one of those states. Our neighbors in Nebraska and Montana are among the eleven states that require no civics education. With this stunning decline in basic education in how government works, or is supposed to work, we shouldn’t be surprised that Americans are willing to accept minority rule. Two institutions that are bastions of minority rule, historic leftovers of the time of slavery, are the United States Senate and the Electoral College. Both are institutions which function to override the will of the majority. Those we have a US President who lost the popular vote. And he isn’t the first one. And we have a senate where legislation can be blockaded and members are allowed to spend more time raising funds from a few selected donors than they do listening the the citizens of the states they are supposed to represent. And the citizens of those states have come to believe that they have little power to change the situation.
The system is broken.
I wonder what it feels like to Chief Justice John Roberts to be officiating at a trial where despite official rules and protocols, those who should be listening and carefully deliberating are not taking their responsibilities seriously. Before the proceedings began, the Chief Justice swore a solemn oath to “do impartial justice.” Then he administered that oath to the senators. At least two of whom, Senators McConnell and Graham, had already publicly declared that they have no intention of honoring that oath. McConnell said on Fox News: “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with the White House counsel. there will be no difference between the President’s position and our position as to how we handle this to the extent that we can.” Graham said, “I am trying to give a pretty clear signal I have made up my mind. I’m not trying to pretend to be a fair juror here.”
So much for sacred oaths.
Political grandstanding for the sake of attracting the attention of potential donors to ludicrously expensive campaigns should make every citizen of the country concerned. This trial is a test of the resilience of this fragile experiment in democracy that we call our nation.
the legacy of the Chief Justice is just one of the things that hangs in the balance as we proceed. These are perilous times. And the senators are handing out fidget spinners because they are bored. How I wish they would pay attention.
