Make them Afraid Again.

Government works for you and me. Government IS you and me. I think we tend to forget this maxim too often. Since we were kids we have honed our skills at differentiating things; figuring out which things are alike and which are not. It's a useful instinct which helps us survive and it is the instinct most abused by the powerful. When we look at the government too many of us can't see that in a democracy that government really is something we own – something that should represent us honestly. It should not be us versus the government; or us versus another government; or even us versus us. The eternal struggle that we need to understand is that it is us versus those who would enslave us; us who would take our agency and our power away for themselves. The United States is more or less a functioning democracy in many many ways except for one glaring aspect - the Supreme Court of the United States, hereafter SCOTUS; the poison pill which will forever define what our Nation will and won’t be. The secret monarchy of the US system.

Let’s start by talking about Oligarchs: Oligarchs are the “THEY” in every conversation we have about who is really in charge or who wants to do X, Y, or, perhaps even, Z to us. But if the Oligarchs get their way, THEY will define THEY as someone who simply disagrees with you or has a different perspective - not someone who actually means you harm but just your neighbor who has strong contrary opinions. The Oligarchs want you to see them as the THEY. But the real THEY, the oligarchs, want to confuse you and they want to hide the simplicity of all. Because it really is simple - the real THEY has all power, the real power that your neighbor doesn’t have. That’s it. That's the trick isn't?

But THEY know this so they employ their weapons. And THEY are use one of the oldest tricks in the book, to divide and conqueror and distract. Don’t listen to your neighbor’s point which you disagree with, don’t try to see it from their perspective; consume some bread and circus - McDonalds and Spotify. It's the old, “ye ol' divide and conqueror” political maneuver. Maybe if we are looking for the other around us, we won't pay attention; we will disengage and surrender our power; we won't follow along. And if we don’t follow along, then they don’t have to be afraid. To that end, Government will only be afraid of the people if the people are following along. I wish Americans remembered that Government is suppose to be afraid of the people all 12 months out of the year rather than once every couple years. If it did maybe we would have a government that is held accountable.

This brings me to our current affairs with SCOTUS- the ultimate THEY. I can say this definitively because SCOTUS has demonstrated this to us all - in living memory. SCOTUS, practically speaking, has the most powerful Veto in our government. Briefly the term “Veto” basically is a political power that can unilaterally stop or prevent an official action. In the case Marbury v. Madison SCOTUS claimed this power, the power of judicial review, when they legislated that they were the final word on Constitutional interpretation. At first glance this makes sense because shouldn’t a Court’s job interpret and apply laws when there is controversy. But we should have been wary because this power is not actually written in the Constitution, it was seceded to SCOTUS without the healthy, necessary cynicism written into the founding document. The authors of the Constitution did not have an opportunity to place a genuine, practical check on SCOTUS’ claimed authority. So for about two hundred years there was sort of a honor system in place - and we should be frank, the executive, President, also operates on an honor system since the office technically controls all the violent aspects of our government and at any time can say the office will do what it wants regardless of the law. But there is a big difference - when the President sold arms to the Contras back in the 70’s and 80’s in defiance of US law, people went to jail because people broke the law. Contrarily when SCOTUS installed a President in 2000 with Bush v. Gore, despite the plain reading of the Constitution and previous precedent (specifically the 1876 controversy) their acts were automatically legal because they can create new areas of legality. There is no check to SCOTUS’ authority to create legality; they determine what the Constitution “really” says despite what it says. SCOTUS can unilaterally edit the Constitution which by design is monumentally difficult to change. Therefore I say again that SCOTUS is the ultimate THEY because they are unaccountable to us and THEY have the power to change your life, to define your life, and THEY are no longer afraid to do so.

Have you been following along? I hope so because SCOTUS has recently destroyed our Constitution and our Democracy. That’s not hyperbole. It’s real and I know it’s real because they wrote it all down; it’s all already occurred. First they told us that the 14th Amendment doesn’t say what the 14th Amendment says about traitors holding office. Then they said that the nuts and bolts of our government, the meritocracy if you will, can’t function without their lay opinions on a matter - Administrative Law Judges, who are usually experts or at least very familiar in a specific field, can no longer make Administrative decisions. Then finally THEY said that the President is no longer bound by the law while being the President - remember how I compared the Office of the President to SCOTUS and how the difference is that the President was subject to the law - SCOTUS disagrees despite what the Constitution says or doesn’t say THEY have decided it otherwise. For our edification everyone should please read Justice Sotomayor's dissent in Trump v. The United States – a very fitting title. The notable jurist (I don’t like SCOTUS but I’m not about to say that they are dumb) sums up what has occurred.

So while we weren’t following along (I am now) SCOTUS first allows for the oldest trick in the book to be amplified by the Citizens United ruling which allowed unlimited money to influence what we hear for the brief time we are paying attention every couple years. Which allowed their friends to convince too many of us that our neighbor was the problem. Because in reality we are not on the brink of a violent Civil War as some would suggest - this country has been very divided before just in the modern era (Red Scare, Vietnam, Civil Rights/forced integration, etc) without fear of dissolution; any talk about a civil war is more of that “ye ol' divide and conquer.” Then while we are talking about “Civil War” and “Race War”, THEY completed a fascist coup similar to what the world saw in Germany around 1932/1933. For context, in 1933 Germany passed a law after the Reichstag fire which effectively suspended civil rights and protections like free speech and Habeas Corpus (your right to know why you are under arrest). Trump v. the United States does basically the exact same stuff. While we weren’t looking hard enough, our Supreme Court, those institutional monarchs, have effectively done the exact same thing the Nazis did. The laws are still on the books but the SCOTUS has ruled, like a bunch of

I wish I had a realistic answer. I’m not sure what we can do, but I guess I know what we should do. I would say that the days of being “independent” are gone. THEY have revealed themselves and THEY are not our neighbors. We can't sit on the fence and him and haw as if our opinion will matter because THEY have shown us that it won’t. The only thing that will move them is if THEY remember why THEY were afraid for the past 200 years. It’s still simple. THEY want to forgive those who brought the Confederate Battle flag into our, yours and mine, Capitol Building a feat Jeff Davis and Bobby E. Lee couldn't do. How many of our ancestors suffered to prevent that. THEY want to empower an authoritarian with the same powers the Nazis had in the 1930’s. How many members of our family suffered to undo that. They want Russian money sponsoring what you here. How many members of your family suffered to prevent that.

It’s the same old tricks and the same old grabs - this time they call it Project 2025, but it has gone by a lot of names in the past. Right now, they say it out loud because are hoping to god that your Spodify and Micky-D’s will keep you quiet and tired; keep you from following along. Well, I’m following along and I want to ask you, reader, my dear friends, my neighbors, to join me. Because I am following along and not only am I not comfortable with giving Donald “Let's Make a Deal with Russia” Trump a second chance; a second attempt at our civil liberties and the the civil liberties of our children. I want Donald Trump to be afraid. And to that end I want every member of the Republican party who cannot walk away from what they stand for in 2024 to know that we them we see their bosses. And that THEY cannot have our vote.

My name is Luke Richter. I am running for the State House for Grand Isle and Chittenden. I would ask my readers, my neighbors, to help me make the Republican Party extinct in this election cycle - maybe then, and only then will THEY understand that we see them. Let’s Make them Afraid Again