Monday Monday

'tweren't So Good

Call me an alarmist but what we witnessed on Monday was a coup by six conservative members of the Supreme Court. They, by the stroke of a pen, just made Fuckleroy king. Or führer, if you prefer. We rebelled when agents of the Crown were above the law and were free to abuse the rights of the people without fear of consequence. Now immunity has been given to one person who is now, apparently, above the law.

John Patrick writes in Understanding Democracy that there is a traditional saying about the rule of law in government: “It is a government of laws and not of men and women.” When the rule of law prevails in a democracy, there is equal justice and ordered liberty in the lives of the people. In this case, there is an authentic constitutional democracy. When rule of law does not prevail, there is some form of despotism in which power is wielded arbitrarily by a single person or party.

Chief Justice Roberts writes that “[M]ost of a president’s public communications are likely to fall comfortably within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities.” As long as Fuckleroy claims that no matter what he’ll do as President that it’s an “official act,” we’ll be witness to a horror show. The same will NOT apply to Biden, as it all goes through the court system that is now bought and paid for by conservatives, evangelical Christians, corporations, and individual billionaires.

Justice Sotomayor did her best to counter: “Today’s decision to grant former Presidents criminal immunity reshapes the institution of the Presidency. It makes a mockery of the principle, foundational to our Constitution and system of Government, that no man is above the law. Relying on little more than its own misguided wisdom about the need for ‘bold and unhesitating action’ by the President, the Court gives former President Trump all the immunity he asked for and more. Because our Constitution does not shield a former President from answering for criminal and treasonous acts, I dissent.”

She adds: “The Court now confronts a question it has never had to answer in the Nation’s history: Whether a former President enjoys immunity from federal criminal prosecution. The majority thinks he should, and so it invents an atextual, ahistorical, and unjustifiable immunity that puts the President above the law. The majority makes three moves that, in effect, completely insulate Presidents from criminal liability.”

What we need to talk about, and the mainstream media is not (and mostly just wringing their hands and clutching their pearls), is that Fuckleroy, Project 2025, and the entire Republican Party needs to be stopped. The media seems to be more of a threat to a Democratic victory than Biden ever will be. At least CNN reported that Fuckleroy made more than 30 false claims at the Thursday debacle.

Trump’s repeat falsehoods included his assertions that some Democratic-led states allow babies to be executed after birth, that every legal scholar and everybody in general wanted Roe v. Wade overturned, that there were no terror attacks during his presidency, that Iran didn’t fund terror groups during his presidency, that the US has provided more aid to Ukraine than Europe has, that Biden for years referred to Black people as “super predators,” that Biden is planning to quadruple people’s taxes, that then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi turned down 10,000 National Guard troops for the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, that Americans don’t pay the cost of his tariffs on China and other countries, that Europe accepts no American cars, that he is the president who got the Veterans Choice program through Congress, and that fraud marred the results of the 2020 election.

Rebecca Solnit wrote: Here's the one thing I know for sure. The majority of people in this country are actually pretty progressive; they want democracy, equality under the law, justice, environmental protection, human rights. The right has openly pursued minority rule through gerrymandering and voter suppression for decades because they know WE DO NOT WANT WHAT THEY WANT; full-authoritarianism by an unaccountable king is the last step of that, and today the Supreme Court tried to open the way for it. The more civic participation we have, inside and outside electoral politics, the better our chances.

Heather Cox Richardson pointed out on Monday in a Facebook chat that the safeguards are now down and now it’s entirely up to WE, THE PEOPLE. Please take the time to give it a view…it’s pretty short and concise. What she is discussing is an overwhelming showing at the polls. And each of us doing what we can to make that happen.

Then HRC wrote last night that, at his confirmation hearing in 2005, now–Chief Justice John Roberts said: “I believe that no one is above the law under our system and that includes the president. The president is fully bound by the law, the Constitution, and statutes.”  She said Roberts’s decision didn’t focus at all on the interest of the American people in guaranteeing that presidents carry out their duties within the guardrails of the law. 

And Politico released a piece this morning detailing how the Justice Department and Judge Chutkan might proceed to trial before the election.

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.

I don’t care if a kitchen appliance is running for president against Fuckleroy. But it’s Joe Biden, so get over it. And just VOTE BLUE.

And now…