"For all practical purposes, today's decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a president can do. This is a fundamentally new principle. And it's a dangerous precedent. Because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States. The only limits will be self-imposed."
@GottaLaff Heather Cox Richardson pointed out that the ambiguity of the ruling- what is official & unofficial will almost certainly only apply to GQP presidents and would be a trap for any Dem President who stepped over the boundary of what they viewed as acceptable behavior. Anyone who thinks this gives all presidents immunity is naive. It gives Trump & other Republicans immunity. So it won’t be self imposed- it will be self preservation. Biden knows who will be looking over his shoulder.
I want to ask people who are not yet on their 5th martini.
Biden might as well arrest Kavanaugh, Alito, Thomas, the most flagrant traitors (they’ve earn the appellation), because there isn’t a path out of this trying to finesse it.
The far right is openly moving to seize control. When they do, there will be bloodshed. If they lose their minds because Biden squashes their main enablers, we get bloodshed.
@gooba42 “Waiting for permission from fascists”? I don’t know what that means. Nor do I agree. And voting is how we win. What are you suggesting? @GhostOnTheHalfShell
I would say here, as a quote from Beau of the Fifth, "voting is the least effective form of political engagement."
What SCOTUS has done is an order of magnitude worse than Roe v Wade in its own way because it makes the abuse of all laws open to a single political faction.
And Roe v Wade effected mass demonstrations. There's a level of political reaction we have yet to touch. Think Vietnam.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell I disagree that it’s the least effective form, considering Trump got in and changed the courts. So I guess voting was effective. @gooba42
Beau referenced political influence. Voting only puts in place government officials. There is an entirely different world of political action. Lobbyists and dark money are one of them
Trump exists because of all the money and influence a clutch of billionaires have poured into media and politics and law for a half century.
@GottaLaff@GhostOnTheHalfShell We're stuck in a reactive mode where they have initiative and attack and we respond with a rhetorical counter to their very non-rhetorical attacks.
We won't win by playing exclusively defense. They've already destroyed what we thought we were defending.
There will be violence and we're actively hurting ourselves by denying that fact and doing nothing to gain any advantage in the next phase.
Historically, violence is the only thing that ever defeated fascism. We can't dismiss that fact lightly.
I want to believe our institutions, including the vote, are effective means of saving ourselves but my faith in that process is very much shaken. We've preserved too much of our antidemocratic heritage in the electoral college and Senate, enough to give them a foothold.
It's not logical to say this privilege of office only applies to trump. This opens the door to making every red congress person, governor, county or city officials completely immune as long as they claim they're performing their duty to serve and protect what they imagine the US is "supposed" to be. And be sure no blue official will ever be found to be acting "officially," whereas red ones will have full immunity no matter what atrocities they commit.
@GottaLaff One interesting angle: Now that Biden has immunity, if he doesn't do all the "fascist" stuff the conspiracy freaks keep blathering on about, it's going to take a lot of wind out of their sails. I mean, they'll come up with even more shit, but it'll be hard to explain why he hasn't sent the ATF to go raid every gun owner's home.
@GottaLaff Nope. Not a dang thing I'll be able to do about people like my mom. But I think there may be some quasi-rational mushy middle sorts who can be swayed.
@GottaLaff certainly the worst Supreme Court in my lifetime. At first, they were political, then they became six additional members of the Republicans in Congress, and now they’re just corrupt and aiding fascism. I am envious of your move. You couldn’t have timed it better.