This past week millions of Americans were stunned by the US Supreme Court’s agreement to decide whether the twice impeached, rape-convicted, fraud-convicted, multi-indicted, disgraced former President Donald Trump can be tried on criminal charges that he conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election in an organized coup d’état. For review, in a one-page unsigned order, the justices ordered a federal appeals court to continue to keep on hold its ruling that rejected Trump’s claims of immunity from prosecution, and the Supreme Court set the date for their oral argument to begin in late April rather than passing and allowing the federal January 6 trial to begin. This means that the federal cases, originally scheduled to be heard on March 4, will be delayed, likely indefinitely until after the election if Biden is elected or not at all if Trump is elected.

John Flannery is a former federal prosecutor from New York who handled widely publicized federal criminal investigations and prosecutions that ran the gamut from securities fraud to a mob prison break, to the bribery of a Congressman and more. He has worked in government over decades on both sides of the aisle, often for Republicans, and he is a formidable legal mind that pulls no punches.

If you are confused about why the Supreme Court took this decision when the lower Appellate Court ruled and wrote what both conservative and liberal legal scholars agree is a conclusive, air-tight, detailed and comprehensive decision that needed no stay from the Supreme Court, listen to Flannery’s 15-minute YouTube video (link is below).

Flannery explains why this Supreme Court decision is based not on the law at all but on the conservative court’s political support of Donald Trump putting to shame the lie that the high court is non-partisan. Flannery urges all Americans who agree with him (I do) to shout from the rafters everywhere and all-the-time that the court has been sorely corrupted at least since Citizens United in 2010, and that if we elect Donald Trump as president America will be well on its way to become a banana republic.

Listen to Flannery here – https://youtu.be/UlVew-MJcpk?si=WAT0QWj23gfp2Khr

Assuming, however, (which I believe) that Joe Biden will win re-election not only because of his remarkable legislative record in the last three years as president, but also his success in renewing NATO and his high moral character and concern for all Americans against Donald Trump who constitutes a fundamental threat to the US Constitutional order, we have to ask what is the remedy to restore integrity and balance to a court that was packed with extremist right-wing Federalist justices by the manipulations and deceit of Senator Mitch McConnell in order to cleanse the Supreme Court of its massive corruption?

Though Biden has been hesitant to mess with another branch of the federal government, the super-majority rule in the Senate ought to be lowered from 60 votes either to 55 or a simple majority, term limits ought to be adopted for high court justices, the number of justices should be expanded to enable every president to appoint one or two justices per term, and an independent ethics commission ought to be established to hold every justice to account as every other judge is so held in the federal judiciary. Such a commission could begin its work by investigating those justices who have taken expensive favors from wealthy donors who may or may not have had cases before the court. The ethics commission also ought to investigate the three Trump-appointed justices (and everyone else too who voted to overturn Roe v Wade) as to whether any of them committed perjury during their Senate Confirmation Hearings when asked directly about their position concerning the authority of “precedent” as established law – all three Trump appointees affirmed that they did – and then all three broke their promise in their very first year on the bench by voting against Roe v Wade in the Dobbs decision.

To do any of the above, restore respect for the high court and help restore American democracy, President Biden must be re-elected and pushed to follow through on a number of suggested judicial reforms, and the Democrats must regain the Senate. To do both will require all of us Americans to work on behalf of and support financially at least eight Democratic Senate candidates (e.g. Joe Tester of Montana, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Jacky Rosen of Nevada, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Ellisa Slotkin of Michigan, Colin Allred of Texas, and Debbie Mucarsel-Powell  of Florida – see https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/01/politics/senate-race-rankings-january-2024/index.html).

We also have to do everything we can to persuade young liberals and progressives under 30 years of age that their protest votes against Biden or their voting for a 3^rd party candidate, while perhaps based on legitimate concerns, is politically foolish given the stakes in this most important election not only in our lifetime but since the Civil War.

As Biden likes to quote his Dad: “Joey, don’t compare me to the Almighty; compare me to the alternative.” Given Biden’s vast legislative and foreign policy successes, wisdom and experience and that he still has his wits about him despite his age, is there really any question by a long shot who in 2024 is the best alternative for President if we compare Biden with the ignorant, bigoted, corrupt, home-born autocrat and criminal dolt that is Donald Trump?