Reply #16: LeftHander, I don't think a fascist Supreme Court is the end of democracy.

[Peace Patriot]

There are ways to get around a fascist Supreme Court IF we can restore transparent elections. For instance, the number of justices on the Supreme Court is not fixed. It can be changed. FDR tried to do just that (the rightwing press of THAT era called it "packing the Supreme Court"). He failed, but he DID have an impact on the court. One judge changed his position on a number of New Deal programs, among them Social Security, which was thus saved.

We could amend the Constitution, to shorten their terms, or make them electable. We could impeach them. We could change the causes of impeachment, and make it easier to do.

We could also accomplish many purposes by legislative means, and bring the full force of the Justice Department to bear in defending popular legislation. We could have a strategy of keeping things out of the courts--where corporations and fascists will have the advantage (once Bush is finished filling the courts with Bushite ideologues).

There are many, many things we can do to implement and protect the will of the majority--IF we can restore our right to vote, the mechanism of our sovereignty as a people. That is the key.

How do we restore our right to vote? We could do so immediately, if Russ Holt's HR 550 could be passed, given the Bushites' current, scandal-induced weakness. HR 550 would greatly help. Among other things, it bans undisclosed software. The other avenue is state/local election reform movements, which have already had some successes. The power over election systems still resides with the states, where ordinary people have more potential influence.

It is a MUST DO--election reform. Priority no. 1.