Supreme Court rules 9 - 0 in favor of Trump

The Supreme Court has struck down Colorado's effort to remove Donald Trump from the ballot on account of a 14th Amendment violation (i.e., engaging in insurrection).  Even the liberal justices on the court (Kagan, Sotomayor, and Jackson) found the arguments presented unconvincing.  Those who hold to Colorado's (and Maine's and Illinois') arguments for removing Trump are clearly suffering Trump Derangement Syndrome.  They are so anti-Trump, they will embrace lunacy to oppose him.  If you think SCOTUS ruled incorrectly in this case, you need to do some self-reflection.

Much as various apparatchiks around the country have sought to disqualify Trump from running for office again, deep staters have used lawfare to attack him.  With a bipartisan consensus on the court against the first group, how confident are Democrat partisans that the deep staters are honestly pursuing Trump for crimes rather than just abusing their power?  Clearly, SCOTUS has ruled that Colorado abused its power.

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Lord Acton

Punishment without Conviction

The Supreme Court of Colorado decided that Donald Trump was guilty of insurrection and, per the 14th Amendment, declared that his name should not appear on the Colorado ballot.  Of course, Trump was never charged with insurrection and has therefore not been convicted.  Nonetheless, Colorado opted to apply the punishment.  The Colorado GOP has appealed the decision and, for the moment, Trump is back on the ballot.

In Maine, the Secretary of State likewise decided that Trump was indeed guilty of insurrection and has removed Trump from the ballot.  Again, Trump has not been tried or convicted of the crime and yet Democrat politicians are administering the punishment.

I have often opined about how the rule of law has eroded in the United States in recent years.  There are the two-tiers of justice, one for Republicans and one for Democrats.  Here is perhaps the most egregious example.  This sort of disregard for the rule of law will lead to Civil War.  The United States is a high trust society.  When the trust is finally broken - and we are on the way - it will be very difficult to restore.

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

It is the late 1840s when Jeremiah Johnson (Robert Redford) arrives on the frontier.  After purchasing a horse, a mule, a Hawken rifle, and some traps, he sets out for the Rocky Mountains.  He makes a variety of greehorn mistakes but is lucky enough to survive anyway.  He eventually stumbles upon an old mountain man (Will Geer) who deigns to train him.  Armed with new skills, Johnson treks deeper into the mountains and has some success.  He acquires a mute son, a Flathead squaw, and a reputation.  He has achieved something like a happy life before tragedy changes him.  The Crow tribe wronged him and now they are at war.

The movie has an unusual structure: Johnson meets people on his journey and meets them again in the reverse order toward the end of the movie.  In the first meeting, he is a novice on the mountains while in the second meeting he is a living legend.

Based on the true story of Liver-Eating Johnson, the movie gets the gist right if not the details.  Johnson had been in the Navy during the Mexican-American War, but left before the peace.  His Flathead wife was killed in 1847, while the war was still in progress.  His vendetta against the Crow is painted as if he was satisfied after killing a handful of them.  In fact, the vendetta lasted for 25 years and saw Johnson recruiting others to assist him.   He earned his moniker by eating the livers of the Crow that he killed, a facet of the man that the film does not explore.

Overall, a terrific movie and great popcorn fun.  Highly recommended.