Today is Tuesday, July 16, 2024. I won’t comment on the shenanigans happening right now at the Republican National Convention since I cannot bear the thought of this country going down the tubes with another Trump presidency. It would be inconceivable after what has happened to this country since January 6, 2021 and what has ensnared Trump ever since.

But I will comment on a breaking news story out of the White House in which President Joe Biden is seriously considering publicly endorsing major reforms at the Supreme Court in an online article from CNN by MJ Lee and Devan Cole entitled “Biden to push for Supreme Court ethics reform, term limits and amendment to overturn immunity ruling, sources say.”

This new initiative by the president “would make him the first sitting president in generations to back seismic changes to the way the nation’s highest court operates, according to two sources familiar with the deliberations.”

Chief among the changes Biden is planning to publicly back are term limits for the nine justices, who currently serve lifetime appointments. Biden is also said to be preparing to throw his support behind an ethics code for the court that would contain an enforcement mechanism, which was notably absent from the code the court adopted last year. This one, as it is currently constituted, has no teeth and it definitely has not prevented two obviously immoral judges, Alito and Thomas, from engaging in very unethical behavior.

Liberal lawmakers and groups have been calling for these changes in recent years.

What will make many people happy is Biden’s possible push for a constitutional amendment that would effectively reverse the historic ruling from the court earlier this month that gave presidents immunity for some actions they take while in office.

This news was first reported in The Washington Post in which the paper stated that Biden will soon plan to publicly support the much-needed reforms.

Over the weekend, Biden alluded to the fact that he was considering major reforms on a call with members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, a source familiar with the call told CNN.

Even though President Biden signaled to lawmakers he didn’t want to get ahead of himself, major reforms are likely coming and that he was in the process of consulting with constitutional lawyers, the source said.

If adopted by Congress, the changes would represent some of the biggest to hit the court in decades. Progressives have been pushing for such dramatic changes in recent years, but Biden has not fully embraced their proposed reforms, until now.

What might have changed Biden’s mind were some investigative pieces that shined a spotlight on the alleged ethical lapses of several of the justices and the ghastly overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Biden has cited the Roe decision and others in his reelection bid.

Asked about reproductive rights and the Supreme Court in an interview today with BET News‘ Ed Gordon that aired on “CBS Evening News,” Biden warned about what he believes a future Dump presidency would mean in terms of future appointments to the bench.

The President made it clear that Dump would have the power to nominate two more justices if two retire, making the court more conservative than it ever has been. Biden laid out the terror of another Trump presidency with regard to the Supreme Court, by saying, “There’s probably gonna be two more appointments to the court. There’s probably two people who are going to resign – uh, resign, retire. Just imagine – if he has two more appointments on that, what that means forever.”

News of Biden’s forthcoming announcement was met with immediate praise from some progressive court reform groups.

Sarah Lipton-Lubet, president of the group Take Back the Court, said “Reforming this broken court is imperative – not just for protecting the hard-won rights of the last century, but for making any progress as a nation in the future.” She added, “While ethics rules and term limits alone cannot fully restore balance and independence, today’s announcement is a watershed moment in the fight to take back the court.”

With this significant new announcement today, let’s hope Joe Biden has succeeded in bringing in many more voters into his circle to make this a reality after he wins reelection in November.

I didn’t expect to be writing about this, but it’s in the news again: the dreaded COVID-19 in which levels are rising here during the summer months. In a CNN article by Katia Hetter entitled “Covid-19’s back. Should you be worried?”

Emergency department visits associated with COVID-19 have been trending up for weeks, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. The most recent data shows that during the week ending July 6, there was a 23.5 percent increase in emergency visits for COVID-19 compared with the previous week. The CDC also reports the viral activity level for COVID-19 in wastewater is high nationally as of July 6.

In my own little group, I’ve heard of people contacting the virus while traveling. Even public figures like Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff has tested positive for the virus.

Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and clinical associate professor at George Washington University, talked about what precautions we can take to resist becoming infected with coronavirus. She mentioned that the people who should worry about becoming infected are those who are older or immunocompromised or those with multiple underlying heart, lung, kidney, and other medical conditions. These people should be sure they are up-to-date with vaccines and should have a plan for accessing antiviral treatment and consider additional precautions such as masking in crowded indoor spaces and trying to gather outdoors instead of indoors.

Wen recommends that people consider wearing an N95 or equivalent mask while boarding a plane and on standing-room-only trains. She advises people to dine outdoors rather than indoors if possible.

As for getting a booster shot, Wen mentions that a new vaccine is coming out in the fall which could be available in September (this won’t help us since we’re traveling in early August), but could be available as early as August. The CDC recommends that everyone 6 months and older receive this vaccine when it comes out.

And if you somehow get infected with COVID-19, it’s not mandatory anymore to isolate yourself for five days. The CDC dropped this mandatory requirement several months ago. Now, the recommendation is that people diagnosed with COVID-19 stay home until they are fever-free for at least 24 hours and their symptoms are improving. For the next five days, they should still try to take additional precautions such as masking and limiting close contact with others.

This doesn’t mean that many people cannot go about their lives during this summer wave, it does mean that people who are vulnerable to severe illness should take additional precautions. Those around them should also take safeguards to help protect those at highest risk.

So just be safe, that’s all I can say.

Stay safe and be well.