If you don't read Heather Cox Richardson...

[Tesha]

...You are missing a brilliant read every day

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/july-8-2023

snip

"Famously, in 1987, President Ronald Reagan nominated Robert Bork, an originalist who had called for the rollback of the Supreme Court’s civil rights decisions, for a seat on that court.
Reacting to that nomination, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality: “Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”
"

[Joinfortmill]

1. She's awesome.

[stopdiggin]

3. super knowledgeable. and informative.

certainly worth anyone's time.

[pirsquared]

22. NYT Letter re Bork 1992

FYI
THE NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIALS/LETTERS FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1992

Court Again Upholds Rights of the Individual

To the Editor:

In "Again, a Struggle for the Soul of the Court" (Op-Ed, July 8), Robert H. Bork has presented a carefully contrived argument that the Supreme Court has "usurped" the democratic prerogatives of the people and their elected representatives in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, on abortion, and in Lee v. Weisman, on school prayer. He suggests that the Court has misread both the Constitution and our history, and “trespassed upon the rights of democratic majorities."

It is Mr. Bork, however, who has ignored the very essence of the American constitutional principle, that there are some human rights so fundamental that they are put even above majority rule.

The framers of the Constitution were only too aware of the dangers of mob rule and majorities that might be assembled in passion. They had seen how quickly the elected representatives of the Massachusetts Bay Colony - established to find religious freedom - turned to an orthodoxy that severely punished all dissent. Their fears were borne out by the excesses of the French Revolution. The framers recognized that popular majorities cannot be altogether relied on to protect our freedoms.

The essence of the Bill of Rights is that no simple majority is allowed to take away fundamental individual rights, such as freedom of speech, of religion, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the right to a fair judicial process.

Roe and Weisman simply recognize that a woman's right to decide to terminate a pregnancy and a student's right to a spiritual outlook uncolored by official pressures are outside the purview of majority whims. What Mr. Bork decries as the Court's "radicalism" is the Court's faithfulness in prohibiting government by unrestrained majoritarianism. His tortured position that the Court should defer to elected representatives is the most radical attack since Robespierre on reserved rights of citizens and limitations of majority rule.

It is, indeed, a peculiarly inconsistent argument that the Reagan-Bush­Bork forces aver: That the regulations of "big" government are evil and a burden on the rights of the people to make a dollar and, at the same time, that government regulations and prohibitions are essential to the public welfare and heaven blessed if directed toward controlling sexual and reproductive behavior.

Rather than ".taking the abortion issue from the people," the Court has affirmed the people's right to live as each believes moral and best. Mr. Bork's quarrel with the Court and his masquerade as a strict constructionist represent less legal scholarship and more .a mischievous attempt to cloak his fervent hopes that an absolutist majority can be formed for his visceral prejudices.

Regarding the Weisman case, there are few clearer ideas in the Constitution than that governments·”shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." If Mr. Bork were genuinely enamored of historical precedence, he might have recalled that in the days before the self-appointed censor Anthony Comstock (1844-1915) there were no laws restricting abortion in the United States.

ELLERY SCHEMPP
Watertown, Mass., July 9, 1992

[Pluvious]

2. Plus one !! She's a treasure (nt)

[bottomofthehill]

4. Can we take a minute to talk about Senator Kennedy.

He saw this coming 35 years ago. He could see it in Bork, he would have seen it in the others and called it out with clarity. He is missed every day in the Senate. I am not saying he could have killed the juggernaut that was the Trump judicial appointments, but he would have fought the fight

[erronis]

10. Sen. Kennedy's quote was very prescient.

Reacting to that nomination, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality: “Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”

[SleeplessinSoCal]

12. Strange echo re: Kennedy

Historically thinking. Sen. Kennedy challenged President Carter in the primary. It weakened Carter and enabled Reagan to win in 1980. He no doubt knew what he'd done when Bork was the nominee.

Protect us, dear lord, from a Kennedy today. Such a sad fall.

[bottomofthehill]

14. Interesting thought, although I do not fully share it with you.

President Carter has been a model former President, his Presidency on the other hand was less than impressive. He had massive majorities in the House and Senate and did little with them. Senator Kennedy saw the bloodbath that was coming in 80 and less than twenty years after his popular brothers death while President he ran for the office. The writing was on the wall with Carter that 1980 he would lose the Presidency, the question was, would he lose it to Kennedy or Reagan.

Carter had some bad luck in his presidency and made some of his own bad luck. That said, he is one of the kindest, most honest people to have held the office and has shown us as a country what dignity looks like.

[questionseverything]

16. 17 plus % interest rates did carter in

[DENVERPOPS]

28. Anyone mention HWBush and his cronies

committing Treason to get Iran's help to defeat Carter? The Republican's always have some "skullduggery Rat Fucking" planned as their infamous "October Surprise" and that was their 1980 election year's...............

Not at all different than Comey, a couple of weeks before the election announcing thousands of newly found Hillary Clinton emails, that had been around for years........

Reagan was a mere puppet, much like W was during his "installation" into the white house.
HW and his CABAL were running everything for 8 years, then HW for four years.
There was a massive amount of damage done to America during those 12 years.

Then came the totally corrupt installation of W in the White House in 2000 and 2004, with part of HW's exact same Cabal running things for eight more highly destructive years....Cheney/Rumsfeld/Wolfowitz etc etc etc

The Republicans were going for the grand slam with Trump with the massive help/advantage assistance of Putin and using the NRA to funnel/launder Putin Oligarch money to Trump's presidential election, and money to countless Republican Senators..........
Oh, and yea, Putin/Russia is our number one enemy they were colluding with to put Trump and a large number of Republican Senators in office.......

The so called Carter high interest was a total Con-Job, as well as the massive inflation, and even the same, artificially, Republican Created high gas prices, was the Repubs work, trying to make Carter look bad. AND, lookie lookie lookie folks they have recycled those same exact things to make their plan work again, just to make Biden look bad.........

I will stop here, otherwise I will need to take a 2nd BP pill tonight.........

Once again, the perfect book title for the past 40+ years would be: WHILE THE NATION SLEPT........ or maybe:
oh, never mind.........

[JHB]

29. Oh, not this again. Hostage crisis, Desert One failure, oil shortages,...

...inflation, high interest rates, evangelicals fleeing the Democrats to Reagan because they blamed Carter for a Ford-era ruling against "segregation academies," "good for Israel?" single issue voters who went to Reagan or Anderson because they thought the Camp David accords were a raw deal for Israel and who took some of Carter's human rights talk about Palestinians as giving aid and comfort to terrorists (see, for example Ed Koch), assorted other "Reagan Democrats," several other prominent Democrats floating the idea of challenging Carter before dropping out (Carey, Proxmire), etc.

But sure, it's all Kennedy's fault for "weakening" they guy with a raft of things going against him but was still neck and neck with Reagan until -- now confirmed as thanks to Reagan -- the hostages did not come home before the election.

[Maeve]

5. Friends started reposting her work on Facebook

And I now subscribe to her e-mails. She writes well-grounded and thoughtful looks at the day's news.

[ancianita]

6. Thank you for putting her out there!

I'm glad to be reminded of how good she is.

[mountain grammy]

7. She's great!

[yellowdogintexas]

8. my sister (who is not a political junkie ) swears by Heather

Cox Richardson.

And yes, Senator Kennedy is so missed! He knew what was at risk.

[h2ebits]

11. I also swear by Heather and have shared her info with my family

Not only can you subscribe to Heather Cox Richardson to receive her daily newsletters but she is also active on FaceBook. I "like" and distribute her daily reports as "public" every day.

[yellowdogintexas]

21. thanks for that tip . I will subscribe. nt

[h2ebits]

32. You're welcome. . . .

You can subscribe for free (which is what I have done) but she also offers a paid subscription. If you are on FaceBook, she also does a weekly live podcast where you can ask questions, etc.

If you read her daily posts "Letters to. . . ." you will know the news of importance and get an education in how politics has shaped our nation. She makes history come alive.

I simply cannot recommend her enough.

[rurallib]

9. I so love the way she ties what seem to be unconnected

events in history into how they are connected and how one led to another. A good example is today how she tied the Dred Scott decision to the Civil War then to the 14th amendment and then up to Robert Bork.

As I read it my mind opened up and I began to understand

[DownriverDem]

13. Do you have

to pay for this? I really like her writing.

[Tesha]

15. No payment is required.

She even posts it on Facebook for everyone to read.

I learn so much from her that I contribute $5 a month through patreon just to keep her writing.

[ShazzieB]

17. I am not familiar with her, but I will definitely check her out now!

[calimary]

18. She's always worth the read.

And any column that keeps the REAL reagan “legacy” alive is not just a good read. It’s a public service!

Fucking reagan. A smooth-talking blight on American history. All those years as a congenial TV salesman really made it easy for him to pull the wool over most Americans’ eyes. And most of America almost literally pulled their eyes out and handed them over to him. Same with their ears.

The best thing I personally can think of, about that individual is that he’s GONE. Unfortunately, his “legacy” lives on.

[Native]

19. Totally agree!

[Alice Kramden]

20. K&R n/t

[Upthevibe]

23. Tesha..........

I've followed her for quite some time. I think she also has a YouTube channel.

She is fantastic!

[SunSeeker]

24. I signed up for her daily emails. Such a comprehensive, well-researched summary of daily stories.

With fascinating, illuminating history thrown in. She is a treasure.

[Locutusofborg]

25. I have a friend who sends me HCR every day

For about two years now. I could subscribe and get her myself but receiving the daily email keeps me in touch with a dear friend.

[maynard]

26. My daily reading task

I read and send it to all my MAGA people as well as friends who like to know info. Only been unfriended by one person.

[burrowowl]

27. Kick

[PCIntern]

30. K and R and...

I have watched her for years and always been impressed with her knowledge base, her perspectives, and her willingness to “go there“.

If I recall correctly, she used to be a regular guest on Rachel’s show and MSNBC in general and then all the sudden something must have occurred, and she was gone. I wonder if anyone here knows why that happened.

[Earth Bound Misfit]

31. She's brilliant.

Her book "How the South Won the Civil War" is an excellent read.

https://www.amazon.com/How-South-Won-Civil-War/dp/0190900903

Richardson's searing book seizes upon the soul of the country and its ongoing struggle to provide equal opportunity to all. Debunking the myth that the Civil War released the nation from the grip of oligarchy, expunging the sins of the Founding, it reveals how and why the Old South not only survived in the West, but thrived.