The Six Trumpy Supremes to the Founders of the United States: Gentlemen, You Were Wrong

 Richard Nixon called. He wants his Presidency back.

Rachel Maddow

 On July 2, 1776 the American Continental Congress passed a resolution submitted by Virginia delegate, Richard Henry Lee. It read, "These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be free of and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." The vote was 12-0 in favor, with one abstention.

The final draft of the Declaration of Independence would not be adopted until the 4th. It had been written to explain the Congressional vote to not only the public, but the British King who we were telling, in effect, to screw off, we aren't going to put up with this autocratic, divine right bullshit any longer.

Yesterday, July 1st, 2024, almost 248 years to the day after Light Horse Harry Lee's resolution passed, six members of the United States Supreme Court ruled, oops, the founding fathers were wrong. We actually do need to have a King, or dictator who is above the law and can do whatever the hell he, or she wants. The only restriction is it must come under the heading of, "official acts."

Oh well, the Great American Experiment in constitutional democracy and law was fun while it lasted.

Justices, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, otherwise known as the usual suspects, all voted for in favor of an imperial Presidency. All six were appointed by republican Presidents. You remember republicans, they used to be referred to as the law and order party and they were once, pre-Trump, proud to be in favor of smaller government. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, all appointed by democrats--those alleged big government knows best people--strongly dissented.

Roberts immediately told the three dissenting Justices they were over reacting to the ruling. House Speaker Mike Johnson went on Fox to assure the nation all is well and no President, or Vice President would ever take the ruling to its extreme possibilities. After all, they are elected by all the people he said, and therefore are ultimately answerable to them. Unless, of course, some President doesn't like the election results, declares mass voter fraud, then nullifies the whole thing through an official executive act. You know, like Donald Trump would have done in 2020 if the court had come up with this neo fascist shit back then instead of now.  

Trump's lawyers didn't hesitate. They immediately petitioned New York Juge, Juan Merchan, asking him to set aside all the guilty verdicts handed down in the hush money trial. Short of that they asked Merchan to at least delay sentencing because of the questions of Presidential immunity raised by the ruling. In fact thanks to parts of the ruling almost all evidence against Trump and future Presidents will be inadmissible in courts from top to bottom. Indeed, Trump may have fucked Stormy Daniels and covered it up before he was President., but he wrote the check for the actual payoff to Daniels, via Michael Cohen while he was sitting in the Oval Office. It doesn't matter the check was out of the Trump Organization account, he was, in his mind, performing an official act.

The Supremes kicked the whole January 6th case back to Judge Tanya  Chutkan and told her to hold hearings to determine what could be considered personal acts as opposed to official ones. The court ruled yesterday Trump's efforts to weaponize the Justice Department in order to overturn the results of the 2020 election are official acts. Roberts added that El Don's attempts to coerce Vice President Mike Pence into fouling up the electoral vote are also, "presumably," official acts.

It has limited Judge Chutkan to only decide if any of the attempts to pressure local officials to throw out the results of their states Presidential election results are official, or personal. If Chutkan rules any of those attempts are personal you can count on Trump's legal team to appeal the ruling, or rulings right back to the same corrupt sons of bitches who have already said he is immune from practically everything. It went so far as to open the door for Trump to sell ambassadorships, take bribes from foreign officials with little, or no consequences, and yes, order the FCC to pull the plug on media outlets like MSNBC just because they say mean things about him. 

That's right, thanks to this ruling during a second term, Donald Trump's autocratic lunacy won't be limited by the law, but only his own twisted imagination. 

No wonder Dick Nixon's ghost, wherever it might be, is raging in the night. The only mistake the unlucky bastard made was committing his felonies five decades too soon.

7-2-24