“Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can’t cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It’s just there, and you have to survive it.
“You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love it and move on and be better for it and run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.” ~Cheryl Strayed
Should future civilizations attempt to reconstruct American democracy — which the Supreme Court struck down last week with its presidential immunity ruling, coupled with its gutting of the Chevron rule — they may want to start with a new mantra: term limits.
For president, supreme court justice, senator, dog catcher. Anything that the public can vote on.
How many is just a math question. But the only job with lifetime security should be whoever cleans men’s toilets; you’re the real heroes.
Judges, in particular, have gotta go, regardless of ideology. No branch of government requires more flexibility, and no branch has less (plus tenure). It’s a better gig than the boss who gave it to you has.
The Supreme Court has veered sharply to the right. Recent rulings show a clear pattern: presidential immunity and the Chevron rule, which grants expertise status to judges over scientists, are just the start.
Justice Clarence Thomas has become a symbol of entrenched conservative ideology, prioritizing his personal views over public consensus. His stance on issues like Roe v. Wade and unchecked executive power is a stark reminder of the dangers of lifetime appointments.
Justice Samuel Alito’s blatant display of a states’ rights flag in his chambers is a middle finger to progressive legislation. His federalist leanings are a roadblock to national solutions for modern problems.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s religious zealotry bleeds into her judicial decisions. Her originalist dogma is out of step with today’s societal needs, turning the clock back on women’s rights, LGBT issues and education in ways Trump never imagined she could lie about.
Though justices are hardly the only ones long in the tooth. Power must be as addictive as heroine; half of Congress us nodding off.
Term limits would smash this rigidity. The average tenure of a Supreme Court justice has ballooned from 15 years in the early 20th century to 26 years today. We need fresh perspectives, not stagnant lifers.
It’s time to dismantle the structure of our judiciary. Lifelong appointments breed arrogance and stagnation.
Remind you of anybody?
O Hounds! O Life!
O hounds, o life!
Azure circle, catalyst of motion,
Gripped in shared obsession.
Curved planes of polymer and air,
Conduit of raw energy,
Binding in the primal dance.
In this dusty arena of instinct,
What ancient memories stir?
Of hunt and chase and pack,
Distilled to pure sensation.
O hounds, o life!
Teeth meet synthetic skin,
A tug-of-war with gravity and time.
In this fleeting struggle,
What eternal truths emerge?
