Keeping track of Trump court cases: updated to 8/1/25

 Tracking the court actions and lawsuits over Trump’s agenda  

6/20/25 I once got into a tangle with a Trumpster regarding the importance of the rule of law. The response was a litany of all of the court rulings against Trump's interest, claiming the anti-Trump decisions, from the 2020 stolen elections to now, were because the judges were all liberal... despite rulings by Reagan and Trump appointees. Yesterday, two court decisions were particularly significant: one upheld the federal government's right to use National Guard troops without the state governor's approval, as seen in the recent California case. The other went against the attempt by the Trump administration to withhold already approved funds for roads and bridges to force states to comply with Trump's mass immigration deportations. What say you, Trumpsters? The only court rulings you respect are those that support Trump's policies?

UPDATES ON TOPIC POST APR 30 

Immigration: special temporary status;  evidence of Trump's racist motivation.   The evidence used by the plaintiff of the racist nature of the Trump regimes order was Trump and Trump offical's own words. crista_ramos_et_al_v._kirstjen_nielsen.pdf

'Huge': Supreme Court hands Florida loss in bid to bar undocumented migrants  ruling says states cannot enforce immigration laws. Florida tried to bar an undocumented person from entering the state from another state.

A district judge ruled against theTrump regime's attempt to arbitrarily, without concern for specific situations on the ground, end special temporary protective status for refugees from anywhere. While this may disappoint those who back Trump's plans to get as many brown people out of the US, note that people caught up in that illegal Trump act were also Ukrainians, whose homeland they would have been faced with returning to, is hardly safer, especially given Russia's drone strikes. Another reason given by the judge is significant...agreeing with the plaintiff's argument that the Trump regime was abusing the law because it was attempting to keep brown people from replacing white people, referring to the infamous ideology held by Nazis and US neo nazis. (Jews will not replace us) The report by Newsweek did not contain what evidence there was of the racist nature of Trump position, but that may be worthwhile digging into . Donald Trump suffers major legal blow over migrant protections

msn.com

Donald Trump suffers major legal blow over migrant protections

Donald Trump suffers quadruple legal blow within hours

immigration'

Pacito v. Trump: Challenging Trump’s suspension of USRAP | International Refugee Assistance Project

Update: 7/2/2025 Trump blocked by federal judges to end asylum granting and to end special temporary status for Haitians.  Judge Blocks Trump's Bid to Deny Migrants Asylum

• The targets of cruel and unconstitutional treatment of migrants are limited to certain races, yet 500,000 of European descent in the US are also undocumented.. Only those of Hispanic or Asian descent receive such treatment and are snatched without warrant from jobs and the street, deprived of due process despite court orders, and sent to gulags without attorneys or recourse to prove they had not committed a crime deserving deportation or disappeared in a foreign gulag (though SCOTUS did rule they needed due process and Trump is accused of defying)), or for just being undocumented, they can be shipped to a foreign country, not the one of their origin., Supreme Court allows third-country deportations for now : NPR   

Trump says he’s ‘not defying the Supreme Court’ amid standoff over wrongly deported man - POLITICO  re the Abrego Garcia case.

Update 6 20 2025 https://www.npr.org/2025/06/19/g-s1-73050/trump-national-guard-california-immigration      Appeals court approves federal use of national guard, even though the governor did not approve. 

In another case, Trump tried to deny transportation funding to force states to abide by Trump's ICE actions. The district court ruled against the Trump administration, but expect appeals. https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-judge-blocks-trump-plan-tie-states-transportation-funds-immigration-2025-06-20/#:~:text=June%2019%20(Reuters)%20%2D%20A,their%20government%20subdivisions%2C%20like%20cities.

Supreme Court Lifts Injunction Barring Deportations Under Alien Enemies Act; Brennan Center Reacts | Brennan Center for Justice

Supreme Court allows third-country deportations for now : NPR

Abrego Garcia: Judge stresses due process while rejecting bid to detain Kilmar Abrego Garcia pending trial    however, ICE can still detain him under another law.   6/23/2025

'Lacks any basis in fact': San Francisco warns judge that Trump admin is 'ignoring' injunction by again trying to limit funds  Trump tried to withhold homeless housing funds via HUD to force cities to comply with his immigration policies..  There was an injunction against that...and Trump tried another approach that caused the judge to issue this warning .

birthright citizenship

     Birthright citizenship explained as justices weigh blocks on Trump's order to end it  

     ‘Unprecedented’: Supreme Court Poised to Restrict Anti-Trump Injunctions

      Trump Admin Blames 'Administrative Errors' After ICE Deports Wrong Man - Newsweek  Jordin                   Melgar Salmeron

Deportations of refugess on temporary visas

      https://www.politico.com/.../supreme-court-trump....

The Trump regime can now go ahead. However, whether there is due process, humane treatment, manpower, or always fair and wise are still an issue. Without enough manpower to catch and deport everyone, expect some to go underground, too., taking chances with "catch me if you can".

deportations

       Donald Trump suffers quadruple legal blow within hours    Alien enemies act update 6/5/2025 Federal judge Boasberg:    : due process for El Salvador deportees...required and can sue to get it      (did not demand return) 6/5/2025

      Supreme Court blocks Trump from restarting Alien Enemies Act deportations | CNN Politics  

      https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/16/supreme-court-extends-block-trump-deportations-00355210

SANCTUARY CITIES: Trump lawsuit thrown out that tried to force state to participate in immigration raids

tariffS

    https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/28/business/us-court-blocks-trumps-tariffs

 DOGE 

    ‘Unlawful’: Trump’s Mass Layoff Plan Suffers Blow  5/30  Appeals court upholds; now onto Supreme Court

     https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-mass-firings-at-several-agencies-will-remain-on-hold-appeals-court-rules/ar-AA1FOBam?ocid=msedgntp&pc=HCTS&cvid=c6b6073c4cc44df99a95a47122b64a12&ei=18

     'A meaningful burden': Judge gives Trump huge win, says deposing DOGE staff cannot stop government from enacting 'permanent' USAID 'shutdown'

Update 6/5/2025  Jobs corps, Department of Education; Donald Trump suffers quadruple legal blow within hours

VOA

P

ED DPT/ separation church state  academic freedom

   https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/05/22/supreme-court-religious-charter-school/83788963007/?csp=chromepush

https://www.npr.org/2025/05/22/nx-s1-5407521/trump-education-department-layoffs-injunction#:~:text=Judge%20blocks%20Trump%20administration%20from%20closing%20the%20Education%20Department&text=On%20Thursday%2C%20a%20federal%20judge,Department%20to%20the%20status%20quo.%22

Bills of attainder cited in Harvard suit against Trump targeted orders: bill of attainder | Wex | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_of_attainder#:~:text=Bills%20of%20attainder%20were%20sometimes,personal%20rig, personal rights. Also search Google AI.  Laws cannot be enacted that target specific groups or people for political reasons. 

Harvard hits Trump administration with lawsuit after DHS bans international students Judge extendsLive updates: Federal judge extends order blocking Trump ban on foreign students at Harvard | AP News TRO

LAW FIRMS

   Judge smacks down Trump in retribution case

BANNING AP

PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP

UNIVERSITY FUNDING, GRANTS AND LOANS

    Harvard hits Trump administration with lawsuit after DHS bans international students

    Live updates: Federal judge blocks Trump administration from blocking foreign students at Harvard | AP News

     

pROTECTING PRIVATE DATA

TRANSGENDER

DEI   https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-discrimination-lawsuit-ohio-205f07a2d47d7a46cfc96a5fefdf9269     Reverse  discrimination case backed (straight vs LGBTQ)

NEW ONES

Free speech protected from government suppression: National Rifle Association v Vullo: MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: Free speech got protection from government retribution in unanimous SCOTUS decision

Federal militarization of state and local law enforcement

    https://apnews.com/.../california-immigration-national...

6/13/25 This is a temporary halt on the lower court ruling that the California National Guard control should be returned to the Governor. It is not a ruling on the substance of the lower court judge's ruling. This is a very important issue to follow since the courts now are the only control of federal government overreach, and their bogus argument that the LA demonstrations were a rebellion or invasion that gives the feds justification for ignoring the objections to the deployment by the California governor. One can imagine in other states or in other administrations whether federal militarization without governors' objections, a federal militarized police state, will be allowed.

‘Unprecedented’: Supreme Court Poised to Restrict Anti-Trump Injunctions

Ending independent agencies and giving Trump more power to fire:Supreme Court allows Trump to fire members of independent agency boards — for now : NPR

States secret actState secrets privilege - Wikipedia

war powers emergency  alien enemies act

  suspension of rights during act of war - Google Search

  https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/16/supreme-court-extends-block-trump-deportations-00355210

VOTING RIGHTS

in 2024 if DeSantis is GOP nominee, how could he fare nationally on critical issues?

 Opening salvos for 2024: possible Biden v DeSantis. Both have plenty on the record for past votes, administration, and public statements. The question: will DeSantis's Florida record translate to winning public policies nationwide. Assuming public policy issues are the deciders and DeSantis is the GOP candidate, not Trump, we need to educate ourselves. Wikipedia (I know...it is a problematic site) did catalog DeSantis' record and footnoted sources. It is a beginning to start the conversation, however, as the matchup looks more and more possible. What grabbed me was the anti-women's choice on abortion history that DeSantis has of record that may sell well in Florida, but it was the public policy issue aside from saving democracy from autocracy that undercut the predicted red wave in 2022. Not in the Wikipedia article is where DeSantis stands on cutting Medicare and social security. At best, his record is squishy. Obviously, he has pussyfooted on this issue since most in his party want to privatize social security. Since there are so many retirees in Florida, he has been. making sure whatever he proposes does not change current policies for retirees and near-retirees. https://www.politifact.com/.../putnam-ad-exaggera-about.../

The most potentially explosive issue DeSantis brings to the table is his anti "woke" crusade and his rejection of teaching critical race theory.  It has been a crusade of right wing southern white conservatives who think teaching history from the Black perspective is discriminatory and DeSantis has signed legislation banning such teachings in both K-12 and now in universities.  Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Legislation to Protect Floridians from Discrimination and Woke Indoctrination (flgov.com)    Who is he protecting? Who is he claiming is the victim of discrimination? It appears to me it is White people who are a majority in Florida. It certainly is not the African American minority.  The implications of this are bound to hit a raw nerve outside of Florida in most quarters trying to be inclusive, who fear the violence of white nationalism, while it gains him strength from the white nationalist movement that had been supporting Trump.  It is also disturbing that he supports the suppression of African American studies at the college level by advocating for and signing legislation that flies in the face of the first amendment that supports freedom of speech.       In November 2022 a judge issued a temporary restraining order against  enforcing the legislation aimed at colleges because of the freedom of speech restraints, calling it "positively dystopian". A federal judge blocks Florida's anti-'woke' law in universities : NPR

His anti-woke crusade  is a position that will increase racial strife, not calm any waters. 

Another  controversial action was his support of "don't say gay" legislation. 

Both these positions show his support of the use of legislation to control both thought and   speech to conform with his ideology,  Once again, this may be popular with the Trump wing of the GOP and it played well in Forida, but it could be a hot button issue when he takes his record  of advocacy of "don't say gay" and anti woke legislation national. 

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Political positions of Ron DeSantis - Wikipedia

The political positions of Ron DeSantis have been recorded from his 2012 United States House of Representatives elections and his tenure as Representative, the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida, and during his tenure as governor of Florida. DeSantis is considered a conservative

The battle for raising the debt ceiling begins. Heads up, GOP, seniors are "woke" to your hijinks.

 The 2022 midterms have consequences as the GOP House majority begins its war on government spending by refusing to raise the debt ceiling and demanding a reduction in expenditures, instead. Heads up, GOP.  Seniors are "woke"  in 2022, and they helped stop the red wave in the midterms. They have become aware of the damage the GOP House could do to seniors. Seniors were once a GOP dependable voting block. Last November, the key block shifting to Democrats were seniors, accounting for making the expected red wave a ripple. 

"A post-election AARP survey points to one reason why — voters ages 50 and up, who represented 61% of the electorate in 63 of the most competitive congressional districts and helped give Democrats there a 2% edge" How older voters impacted midterms vote in key congressional districts (cnbc.com)  

 The usual GOP dogma is that more government spending is bad and more government debt is even worse. We will hear the GOP's platitudes and generalities as the debate over the debt ceiling begins.  Their initial posture: We will support raising the debt ceiling if we cut expenditures. This is hostage holding without specific ransom.   GOP has a charming and deceptive habit: They never specify what government expenditures they want to reduce and hope voters would continue in the dreams of traditional GOP platitudes by being the party of superior fiscal responsibility. . Voting against raising the debt ceiling is irresponsible since it does nothing to reduce expenditures and it would devastate retirement funds by making the US a risky place in which to invest.  However, the debate is an opportunity for Democrats to make deeper inroads into the support of senior or near-senior-age voters in 2024 planning for retirement.

 The GOP cannot be left getting away from being vague, but there are clues since their chief gripes have been about the infrastructure bill and, above all, the "inflation reduction act".  So what do they propose? What expenses would they cut? Social security? Medicare?

We can, however, assume that there will be legislation introduced by the GOP to cut social programs, aid to Ukraine, or roll back benefits of the "inflation reduction act." They could either starve the programs by cutting funding, privatize social security,  or cut the taxes on the rich, which were the payfors for the "inflation reduction act." Rolling back the benefits has re-election risks  and those hurt the most would be seniors and affordable health care:   ( Attack ads: "did you know your representatives voted to make you pay more again for your diabetes meds and health care insurance"? Or did you know your representative wanted to finance social security in the casino of Wall Street?") The restoration of tax cuts to the rich without cutting budgets and benefits will just add to the debt. 

 Top of the GOP ire is the misnamed"inflation reduction act" passed by a partisan vote before the GOP eaked out a House majority.  The legislation should have been the "deficit reduction act" since the impact, per the Congressional budget office, would be to reduce the deficit of $300 billion over the next ten years. When it comes to family finances, the cost of health care for seniors and those who could qualify for Obamacare are the big winners..  The task of the Democrats is to bring the meaning of this home to those who live on a budget and to draw the contrast with GOP House members who are on the record for rolling this back. 

 Here is what the GOP could try to roll back per a bullet point summary provided by  Democrats.Inflation Reduction Act One Page Summary (senate.gov).  In the debate over the debt limit, this is the first time in 2023  for Democrats to strike with pointed messaging while the iron is hot.  The last time will be in 2024, when all House members will stand again for re-election, and their votes in 2023-2024  will be on the record.  Here is  a summary provided by  Democrats.Inflation Reduction Act One Page Summary (senate.gov) . 

Seniors need to be woke as well to attacks on mail-in voting, a major drive by election deniers and many in the GOP.  The greatest beneficiaries of this are seniors and what the GOP anti mail in vote advocates make it harder for seniors to vote. MUFTIC FORUM BLOG: An election denier aspires to be Colorado state GOP chair after GOP losses in 2022

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some  more background:

In addition to reducing the debt by $300 billion over ten years: "• Lowers energy costs, increases cleaner production, and reduces carbon emissions by roughly 40 percent by 2030 • Allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices and caps out-of-pocket costs to $2,000 • Lowers ACA health care premiums for millions of Americans • Make biggest corporations and ultra-wealthy pay their fair share • There are no new taxes on families making $400,000 or less and no new taxes on small businesses – we are closing tax loopholes and enforcing the tax code.

"Beneficiaries will see three significant changes in 2023.

"The first is the $35 monthly cap on insulin, which will affect more than 1 million insulin users who have Part D through Medicare Advantage plans or free-standing plans purchased along with traditional Medicare.

"From 2007-20, beneficiaries’ aggregate out-of-pocket insulin costs quadrupled, even though the number of users only doubled. They spent an average $54 a month on insulin in 2020, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis.

"The cap will save average users at least 35% and applies immediately without requiring them to first pay the Part D deductible, which amounts to $505 in 2023. About 10% of Part D insulin users, such as Lubin, paid more than $1,300 out of pocket in 2020 and will save much more. Although all Part D plans must cap the cost, they aren’t required to offer every form or brand of insulin" (inferring changing plans is an option when there is part D open enrollment again).

Helpful background:  Per AARP,  good lay explanation: The deficit is the difference between what the U.S. Government takes in from taxes and other revenues, called receipts, and the amount of money it spends, called outlays. The items included in the deficit are considered either on-budget or off-budget.

You can think of the total debt as accumulated deficits plus accumulated off-budget surpluses. The on-budget deficits require the U.S. Treasury to borrow money to raise cash needed to keep the government operating. It borrows the money by selling securities to the public.

The Treasury securities issued to the public and to the Government Trust Funds then become part of the total debt.

What's the Difference Between the Debt and the Deficit? (aarp.org)

If Ron DeSantis is the GOP nominee in 2024, what is his record on public policy issues including those important to seniors?. From my 1/17/2023 blog posting:

Opening salvos for 2024: possible Biden v DeSantis. Both have plenty on the record for past votes, administration, and public statements. The question: will DeSantis's Florida record translate to winning public policies nationwide. Assuming public policy issues are the deciders and DeSantis is the GOP candidate, not Trump, we need to educate ourselves. Wikipedia (I know...it is a problematic site) did catalog DeSantis' record and footnoted sources. It is a beginning to start the conversation, however, as the matchup looks more and more possible. What grabbed me was the anti-women's choice on abortion history that DeSantis has of record that may sell well in Florida, but it was the public policy issue aside from saving democracy from autocracy that undercut the predicted red wave in 2022. Not in the Wikipedia article is where DeSantis stands on cutting Medicare and social security. At best, his record is squishy. Obviously, he has pussyfooted on this issue since most in his party want to privatize social security. Since there are so many retirees in Florida, he has been. making sure whatever he proposes does not change current policies for retirees and near-retirees. https://www.politifact.com/.../putnam-ad-exaggera-about.../

EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG

Political positions of Ron DeSantis - Wikipedia

The political positions of Ron DeSantis have been recorded from his 2012 United States House of Representatives elections and his tenure as Representative, the 2016 United States Senate election in Florida, and during his tenure as governor of Florida. DeSantis is considered a conservative 

Democrats need to frame the debate of democracy v autocracy as real life consequences

Update: November 1, 2022   The attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband by politically motivated man is just another example of what we can expect if voters do not slap down those who inspire violence to gain political power.  For much of the mid terms cycle, the issue of keeping democracy as our form of governance has been expresses as democracy v autocracy. Ho hum. The gist of the column was that the consequence of Trumpism and the Trump base was not an autocracy, but more violence to determine the outcome of an election in th future.  The question should be reframed as it is a choice of who will govern us, not as democracy v autocracy, but as democracy v violence, of vote in fair and free elections or be government by threats of terrorism and violence.  Last night, Rachel Maddow framed the choice in those stark terms: democracy v violence.

There are still more voters who could grasp the importance of preserving democracy if the debate of democracy v Autocracy and the threat of Trumpism to democracy, but the argument needs to be framed in terms of real-life consequences.  

One of the real fears I have had for the Democrats to argue the reason that they are defending democracy is the political science and history case (remember Hitler, Mussolini and how they rose to power) that it is not appealing to enough voters. There are still some voters on the fence but the argumentation is just too intellectual, long-term, and speculative for many. and that 39% still believe that Trump was no threat to democracy, per an August 2022 New York Times/Siena poll. 37% of independents believe likewise.  The fear of autocracy and the potential subversion of democracy needs to be put in terms of how it will hurt them and their own daily lives.   The Trumpsters, on the other hand, say they are defending democracy by fighting fraud at the ballot box. Evidence that not enough fraud occurred to change the outcome of 2020 gets explained away by believing in all kinds of theories without evidence, paranoid speculation, and delusions.  Per the Siena poll, 76% of Republicans believe the 2020 election was stolen.  What is disturbing is an undercurrent of belief now more openly expressed is that an autocracy, rule by a person instead of the rule of law, is just fine with some if it is "our" autocrat we like who supports our beliefs and goals, "It is Ok..  We will get our way faster and more certain, so bring it on."  Voters inclined to prefer authoritarian government are around 26% of all voters per a June 2021 Morning Consult poll.  26% of Americans Are Highly 'Right-Wing Authoritarian,' New Poll Finds (businessinsider.com)

Examples of real-life consequences of an attempt to establish an autocracy could be presented like this: We have already seen what happened on January 6:  violence and riots. We have seen what happened to the free and fair election process with an attempt to count only certain votes and ignore the popular votes. We have seen the death threats and intimidation of poll workers and election administrators who refused to lie or to violate rules and laws to tip the election results to the loser.  Your vote may assume to be for "the other side" and may not be fairly counted. Is the use of violence, threats, intimidation, and chaos to determine who won and who lost what you want to see happen in the future.? That uncertainty, that fear of violence, that failure of trust in the election system means a destabilized country. That distrust was the creation of Trump backers in the last four years, The exhortation and acceptance of violence and threats of violence as a political tool is a recent development and new in the experience of those alive today.   

The ability to go to the polls and be certain the process will be fair, your vote will be counted as reported correctly, and you will not be harassed and intimidated, or unnecessarily inconvenienced is a fundamental key to democracy. . The ability to be certain your vote still gives you the power to voice the direction of governance is your fundamental right in a democracy that has been taken for granted until now. Keeping that trust depends on more than just faith, it now requires assurance no one "fixed" the computers or no election officials gave access to the cast ballots solely to the supporters of candidates they favor. 

For those who support Trump because it benefits their business interests, consider this:  There is nothing worse than instability, conflict, fear, and uncertainty to damage the business climate.  If you are willing to ignore the threat of democracy's end because you like Trummpist policies that help your business,  a strong democracy equates to strong capitalism,  where an element of fairness and rules and laws are followed by all. and observed impartially in the courts.  Justice is not just for those who support and contribute money to a strong leader who determines the winners and losers in business as well as in politics.. 

 What will happen to America if Trump wins again? Experts helped us game it out. - The Washington Post  

How Educational Differences Are Widening America’s Political Rift - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

Many American Voters Want to Upend System, Poll Finds - The New York Times (nytimes.com)   The poll cited asked if voters thought Trump was a danger to democracy. '''Among all voters, 49 percent said the Capitol riot was an attempt to overthrow the government. Another 55 percent said Mr. Trump’s actions after the 2020 election had threatened American democracy. As with so many other issues, voters saw the riot through the same partisan lens as other issues"  Siena Poll: 37% of independents still believe Trump was not a threat and 76% of Republicans also believe Trump was no threat to democracy.

New research provides insight into why our education says way more about our politics than it used to (psypost.org)

A Senate speech for the ages: Independent Senator Maine: Angus King on saving American democracy

No one has been able to address the Constitutional crisis we are now facing with such clarity and passion than  Angus King (I-ME) did on October 19, 2021.  He makes the case that the voting rights legislation to prevent the trust in elections in the future is essential for all of us, not just one demographic, to preserve our  American democracy.  He encapsulated so many of my thoughts and put them in a context so clearly stated,  that I urge all to listen to this. or read his words:

Senator King Delivers Impassioned Speech On the Senate Floor Urging Action to Defend Voting Rights - YouTube

Scroll down for the text: “We Are At A Hinge of History” – Senator King Delivers Impassioned Speech On the Senate Floor Urging Action to Defend Voting Rights

A strange thing is happening in the GOP. They are denying they are racist

Update 7/25/2025 Thomas, Alito and Gorsuch dissent from Supreme Court voting rights order

Updated: 9/6/21 to reflect a discussion of critical race theory.

A strange thing is happening in the GOP. Major leaders are planning a public campaign to deny they are racist. The message is a garbled one, denying racism exists in America while supporting laws and policies to suppress gains in civil and voting rights of racial minorities.  At a recent conference, some carried the message farther:  racism is not a family value.‘America is not racist’ becomes a GOP 2024 mantra - POLITICO  It is yet to be seen whether this signifies a serious rift between those appearing to be moderates and those who see value in beating racial drums in the GOP  

Among the GOP's recent talking point campaigns has been a cooked-up war against a red herring, "critical race theory",  about how the history of slavery and civil rights are taught in schools.  Many of us supporting civil rights, including me, had never heard of the term or much less considered or advocated"critical race theory." I am one who believes in fairness as a fundamental value worthy to support..  Both institutions and society reflect and feed each other, are constantly changing, and are shaped by many forces, including experience,  custom, and culture.    When nearly all people believe they are treated fairly, democracy. and economic and social stability thrive. Full stop. 

 I looked for a neutral definition of "critical race theory"  and found clarity in the Encyclopedia Britannica.  .critical race theory | Definition, Principles, & Facts | Britannica" intellectual movement and loosely organized framework of legal analysis based on the premise that race is not a natural, biologically grounded feature of physically distinct subgroups of human beings but a socially constructed (culturally invented) category that is used to oppress and exploit people of colour. Critical race theorists hold that the law and legal institutions in the United States are inherently racist insofar as they function to create and maintain social, economic, and political inequalities between whites and nonwhites, especially African Americans."

 I find critical race theory simplistic and lopsided.  Institutions are not the sole cause of racism, but are reflective of many factors and can contribute to mitigate or exacerbate  No doubt my views are shaped by growing up in one of the most racist societies in America, eastern Oklahoma,  student days in post-war Berlin, and close family connections to Bosnia, where there was a history of demagogues exploiting existing social and religious hatreds to rise to power, and then to shape the official and unofficial acting out and institutionalizing of their policies.  

 Those Republicans who resent being called racist are often the same who want to downplay the dark history the African American experience in schools and in the military. Those teaching about affirmative action denied they were teaching the so-called critical race theory or exaggerating this history of America's treatment of racial minorities and see the value in creating a better understanding between the races., 

 This newest push in the GOP  is after years of their southern strategy to gain staunch political support among the former slave states in the wake of the civil rights movement and the passage of the 1964 civil rights act led by a Democrat, President Johnson. The former Dixiecrat states flipped to Republicans in subsequent elections and the anti-slavery party of Lincoln became the party of voter suppression. and rolling back civil rights gains. 

 The GOP has dominated southern states since then, reaching its high point with the election of Donald Trump. Trump's campaign rally oratory contained allusions to racist tropes and "dog whistles".    He gained his political notoriety as a birther to claim Obama was not a legitimate president because he was born in Kenya (never proved and Obama had to "show us his papers" and proof of Hawaiian birth)... He launched his campaign for president by calling Central American migrants rapists and murderers. While president, he patted white nationalists on the back as "fine people" as they were waving the Confederate flag or its derivatives in Charlottesville. It became an open season to vilify the personal and physical attributes of those they feared or disdained. One of the nastiest I saw depicted a cartoonish, evil-looking Michelle Obama.  Others promoting the "big lie" of Trump's attempt to overturn the 2020 election results base on unproven claims of fraud, depicted photoshopped memes showing only black people looking like they were committing some sort of election fraud and conflating racism and fear of loss of institutional power.  Since then, Georgia,  and Texas have enacted draconian laws, copycatted by other red-state legislatures,  aimed at making it harder for those they saw as opposition voters, mostly African Americans, to make it to the polls, and putting party hacks in charge of counting votes. Some of these even make it possible for GOP party-dominated state legislatures to ignore the popular vote for president when they are on the losing side and send their party representatives to the electoral college instead. The GOP's strategy to turn the Supreme Court into a pro-life, body has been successful so that body has become more culturally conservative. The Court can no longer be counted on to protect gains in both civil and women's rights made in the past 50 years.s. We will soon see if the two issues in the "cultural wars" have similar outcomes as challenges to their constitutionality come before the Supreme Court. ...

There are political implications of this for 2022 and 2024. Some in the  GOP attending the conference must have been struck on the road to Damascus that being a supporter of white nationalism is no longer a cool thing or a good election strategy    Biden significantly increased support from independent voters over Trump's 2016 record per a recent Pew Center analysis. A meme posted recently tried to turn the tables on history claiming that Obama was the cause of racism in this country because he is the one that divided us. What? For just being African American?  I have long thought that the current "culture wars" were a backlash to him personally.  

 On one hand, I welcome this realization among some Republicans that being racist is not a GOP value, or a family or Christian value, for that matter. At least it is some acknowledgment that being called a racist is also not a good thing. This could bring an element of peace to this land so full of hate if it is just more than changing messaging.  On the other hand, let us also watch what Republicans are doing in their legislative bodies and with voter suppression tactics.  That they will ever convince those who are the target of racism the GOP has seen the light is doubtful (80% of African Americans self-identified themselves as Democrats in 2020 per a Princeton research publication), but it might lure those who would like to think a vote for the GOP is no longer an indication of the bad character of a racist.,  Those in the GOP can begin by laying off vicious Facebook posts that photoshop minorities into scary figures doing evil things. Part of this revision should be to condemn what Donald Trump did and to acknowledge that he made the racial divide much worse by hitching his wagon to racism and praising racists and white nationalism to rise to power.   

 . To be a better country, we need to know what, why, and how to improve and achieve the promises of our country.   From the Preamble to the Constitution: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America".  Those who were not a party or included at the time of the writing of this in 1787 have become the posterity.

What is Critical Race Theory? A Brief History Explained - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

critical race theory | Definition, Principles, & Facts | Britannica

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  Decoding the pro-Trump insurrectionist flags and banners — Quartz (qz.com)

Why are Blacks Democrats? | Princeton University Press

Behind Biden’s 2020 Victory | Pew Research Center

‘America is not racist’ becomes a GOP 2024 mantra - POLITICO