- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- usa@lemmy.ml
On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that American presidents have “absolute immunity” from prosecution for any “official acts” they take while in office. For President Joe Biden, this should be great news. Suddenly a host of previously unthinkable options have opened up to him: He could dispatch Seal Team 6 to Mar-A-Lago with orders to neutralize the “primary threat to freedom and democracy” in the United States. He could issue an edict that all digital or physical evidence of his debate performance last week be destroyed. Or he could just use this chilling partisan decision, the latest 6-3 ruling in a term that was characterized by a staggering number of them, as an opportunity to finally embrace the movement to reform the Supreme Court.
But Biden is not planning to do any of that. Shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its decision in Trump v. The United States, the Biden campaign held a press call with surrogates, including Harry Dunn, a Capitol police officer who was on duty the day Trump supporters stormed the building on Jan. 6; Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas); and deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks.
Their message was simple: It’s terrifying to contemplate what Donald Trump might do with these powers if he’s reelected.
“We have to do everything in our power to stop him,” Fulks said.
Everything, that is, except take material action to rein in the increasingly lawless and openly right-wing Supreme Court.
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“Official Acts” are the acts within the powers granted by the constitution, and acts of Congress. Biden (and any future presidents) can’t just punch someone, say “I officially punch you!” and get off the hook.
This is similar to the immunity every judge and prosecutor in the country gets. Basically, inb4 the only result of this ruling is a few charges against Trump are dropped.
The official vs unofficial part will be determined by the courts. I assume most cases involving the President will go to the Supreme Court. Do you see the issue here?
You assumed wrong, as the supreme court said the trails court will determine what is and isn’t an official act. What’s the problem?
First responders get immunity while they are doing their duty. Judges do too. What exactly is the problem? Breaking the law CANNOT be an official act.
Breaking the law has been an official act for fucking ever. Did Washington break the law when he became the first president of the United States? Obama droned a US citizen. Andrew Jackson said fuck you to the supreme Court and enforced the trail of tears on the sad remnants of the native population that didn’t die to illness, battle, or reprisal attacks.
The problem, one of many, is the courts. These fucking judges get appointed en masse. Fucking scumbags. And if you have enough money, clout, or both you get to appeal to the Trump supreme court. I wonder if they would rule differently on an act depending on which party had the presidency.
Why exactly do you think the Supreme Court made a whole ruling about former-presidents being immune to prosecution for official acts if you think breaking the law makes something not an official act? There would never be a case when the president would need this protection because they were either making an official act or making an illegal act, never both.
And just to be clear, you’re wrong and all the justices on both sides are explicitly talking about doing illegal things while also doing official things.
Because they are protecting our republic. A president shouldn’t fear being prosecuted by someone for their official acts when they are out of office, such as a political rival.
And no, something illegal cannot be official.
If something illegal cannot be official then this protection never applies. Someone would prosecute him for an illegal act, he’d invoke the defense of doing an official act, and then the judge would say “but the conduct you’re being prosecuted for is illegal, so if you did it, it couldn’t have been an official act and immunity does not apply”.
And again, none of the justices on either side of the ruling are making this absurd and nonsensical claim.
None of the judges on either side are making this absurd claim because it’s in the constitution article 2 section 3 and has been settled for 200 years. The president has to follow the law.
The campaign is made up of closeted repuglicans. Explains a lot of their bullshit this season
why are we calling them dogs now?
God i fucking hate the little “play on word look at me i’m so clever by engaging in dehumanization” posting.
I’m sure it’s a play on ‘repugnant’
ah cool, still terrible.
Yes they are. Terrible.
Because of course they did. God forbid a dem take any kind of unseemly action. Instead, we got a 5min press conference about how unacceptable it all is.
Is this .ml now?
The reality is the democrats can’t reform the supreme court, because they don’t control the House of Representatives, and barely control the Senate.
To enact reform of that type they would need solid majorities in both chambers and control of the presidency. That remains very unlikely. Even simple ideas like expanding the court rather than meaningful reform is impossible as no nominees would get through congress.
It makes sense the democrats make their campaign focused on Donald Trump. And as bad as the supreme court is at the moment, the democrats have bigger issues to deal with - a lacklustre campaign with a poor candidate. It’ll be hard enough trying to convince people Biden is a good choice as a candidate, let alone move into complex areas like judicial reform.
He could and should “stack” the court right now. Supreme Court nominees only need advice and consent of the Senate, not the House.
And yet somehow even with a Democratic House/Senate you know Trump will get plenty of mileage out of using this ruling to become emperor.
The reality is the democrats can’t reform the supreme court, because they don’t control the House of Representatives, and barely control the Senate.
The Supreme Court literally just said Biden can do whatever the fuck he wants as long as it’s an “official” act, including having the conservative Justices assassinated and replaced by people he picks himself, confirmed by the Senate or not.
TFG is a threat to democracy. but we won’t do anything about it. please vote harder.
no system can survive without mechanisms to protect itself. if a person is immunocompromised, a simple illness can destroy their body. if your computer doesn’t have an antivirus, a simple virus can take over the whole system.
if your democracy doesn’t have a way to extinguish fascism before it takes over, don’t expect democracy to survive it by chance.
Read the article, not the headline, he’s not saying he won’t do it or would veto legislation around it. He says he’ll consider court reform. He’s “dismissing it” as a thing to focus on right now because you need an an unrealistic amount of congressional votes to pack the court. Good luck with that. The supreme court interprets laws, with less votes than you need to expand it, you can write blisteringly clear legislation that leaves no room for interpretation. Supreme court problem solved.
No matter how clear your law is, if SCOTUS doesn’t like it, they can just declare it unconstitutional after the first yahoo with standing sues the government.
The Democrats aren’t going to “save you”. They like having the Boogeyman of Trump or <insert crazy Republican> to get you to vote in “the most important election in our lifetime”.
Don’t get me wrong, Trump and the Republicans will do more damage socially, but the Democrats couldn’t/didn’t/won’t stop that even when they control(ed) the White House, House of Representative, and the Senate.
Remember folks that this argument falls apart the instant you look at policies. Trump and his cronies will do more damage socially and in every other imaginable way. While not perfect, I feel the Democratic side can be fixed. There is no fixing the vicious and malicious mockery that is the modern Republican Party. For now, and if we fight, the Democrats do still listen when under pressure at least some of the time.
So let’s start artificially creating that supply, by demanding.
While not perfect, I feel the Democratic side can be fixed.
Where is your evidence for that?
If you don’t actually have any please top distacting us from talking about actual solutions.
It’s like climate change action. Too little, too late. Or really not much at all. Thanks, you fucking primary DNC voters.
Too little, too late
The SC literally just granted this power. What was he supposed to do, force them not to release the ruling? He could not have packed the court in any way to cancel out this 6-3 majority in time
Thanks, you fucking primary DNC voters.
how would that change the ruling?? It is not a simple thing at all to reform the highest court, especially amidst these last few insane years. Biden or another D, it is not something that can just be done. You’re acting like Biden had the chance to just sit down in a chair but chose not to.
You should be thanking the unelected supreme court fascists.
Conservatives, I understand. They’re sick, and toxic, but they fight for what they believe in. Which is why we have to defeat them, and why we have to fight back so hard.
But Liberals, man, I just don’t get it. Like zero goddamn fight in them. No political will. Not in my lifetime anyway. “Hey we’re kinda less shitty than fascists, vote Democrat.”
And I have to, but like, only to keep from sliding into the abyss in my own lifetime. So inspiring. Time to start over.
Because they actually believe in democracy and believe that it’s the people that should prove they disagree by not electing Republicans but again and again the people prove in high enough numbers that they would rather vote against their best interests.
It is a fundamental misunderstanding and mistake to believe that people don’t vote the way you want them too is because they are less intelligent than you.
deleted by creator
We’re here, and we’re waiting for the rest of the populace to figure it out. Because we can’t start a revolution on our own. But you need to realize that people will die for this cause, maybe even you. Are you really ready to fight?
I’ve said it before and I’ll link to that here: https://lemmy.world/comment/6020397
Ok. Post was deleted but my comment was there. Screenshot for the win.
You are confusing liberals and centrist democrats. Biden and his other centrists are not putting up a fight at all. While liberals like AOC, Sanders and porter have been fighting since day 1. I’m a liberal and every traitor connected to this coup should be hung.
Bernie called Biden his friend, lol.
They worked together in Congress forever. I work with people who suck all the time and I call them buddy.
When Bernie was campaigning against Biden he defended Biden’s candidacy multiple times over his own. That’s a huge problem. And people who support billionaires are not our friends. But Bernie is such a people pleaser.
Bernie wants the right policies and outcomes, but he’s not a fighter and has no backbone.
I want Bernie to wrap his sallow yet expansive hand skin entirely around my throbbing member as I cum to a photo of Michelle Obama’s ankles.
Forgot what we were talking about. Oh yeah, fuck you Bernie is a hard nose fighter. It’s amazing he gets around and yells at people at his age. When he was younger than me he got arrested marching for civil rights. He is embraced by thought leaders in the black community and idolized by Christians even though he’s a Jew against Israel. Fuck you man Bernie is 87 years old and I’m here for it
You are confusing liberals and centrist democrats.
No, he’s not. Liberalism is a center-right ideology. Liberals and centrist Democrats are the same people.
You’re the one using the term incorrectly as some kind of synonym for leftists.
News flash, words are used differently in different countries. You can try to fight semantic battles on archaic or international definitions of “liberal”, but that’s a pointless waste of time and not what it means to most Americans. It’s well past the point that an incorrect usage has become an alternate definition.
You can usually tell how old someone is by whether or not they think, “liberal,” and, “progressive,” are synonyms.
Progressive can mean liberal, I mean look at ole Bull Moose Teddy Roosevelt. He was both progressive and liberal. Generally social Democrat does not though.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Classical_radicalism
Counterpoint- you can tell how terminally online someone is by thinking liberal doesn’t mean progressive in the US.
I disagree with the labeling but it’s one of the silly infighting things people on the left have to understand. Fifteen years ago I was proud to call myself a liberal. Now I know the “real” definition and I don’t call myself that. But my positions haven’t changed much. I’m really hearing what anarchists have to say these days but I call myself a socialist, the same as I did back then.
Because libs self-limit. And that’s because they believe themselves to be “good” people. “Good people don’t do that.” Thinking that you’re good while your foe is evil or ungood is a type of hubris.
well he cant reform the supreme court. Doing that would not be affected by this immunity descision. Its still a crime to follow unlawful orders from an immune president.
He could use the military to strong arm either congress or the Supreme Court to make them rule/legislate as he wants. He could just pardon anyone he has following his unlawful orders as well.
Mathematically, non-voters just voted for whoever wins. So, if you are anti-trump (or all the other evil he stands for) and he wins, but you didn’t vote…you voted for him.
Thank you
Right now, two things are true:
The president ordering the US military to kill US citizens on US soil is legal and cannot be challenged.
One of the presidential candidates is promising to be a dictator on day 1.
This isn’t a drill. We’re 4 months away from knowing if 6 months away is our democracy’s end.
Fuck the Biden campaign, that should be their whole platform now. But instead they use it to threaten us.
Edit: still, im voting for him…
That edit is the whole problem democrats don’t have any consequences for being shitty. If this election is so important than fucking do something popular Jesus Christ.
Edit: still, im voting for him…
That edit is the whole problem democrats don’t have any consequences for being shitty.
yeah! Let’s just not vote at all and hand trump and the federalist society the election!
If this election is so important than fucking do something popular Jesus Christ.
Biden has done a FUCK TON of stuff for the average american, especially in the face of the do-nothing MAGA congress. You’re mad because Biden isn’t immediately whipping his dick out to fuck over the supreme court with the insane amount of power they just handed him? Grow the fuck up, jesus christ. The LAST thing we need are knee-jerk emotional reactions instead of calculated tactics.
I don’t immediately disagree with this. Reactionary decisions breed instability and progress requires a foundation. Though with the Nation’s already flawed fundaments being actively bulldozed I am compelled to ask: what calculated tactics may we reasonably trust are in play?
Biden has played politics well enough. I’ll grant that. Especially while navigating the obscenely successful obstructionist Republican strategies which strangle the Legislature. The fact he’s accomplished anything of note in this climate could reasonably be spun as impressive.
Is the bar for America’s “left-wing” set so low, and the expectation they’ll cow to corporate interest so common (and rightly so), that this spin, these accomplishments, are honestly lauded as the laurels on which the Biden administration may ride to a second term? Forgiving student debt. Ensuring fairer access to home loans. Expanding healthcare coverage for veterans. All good things! No doubt. Is it fair to expect the American people to think this is enough? While higher education, homes, and healthcare become increasingly accessible?
Addressing symptoms in this way placates the agitated while maintaining the status quo and setting precedent to, ostensibly, address root cause at a later time. It assumes that the wheel of progress turns slowly. That progress will win out if it is patient and persistent and noble.
The past twelve years have proven this is not so.
The religious right-wing has worked diligently over the last ~70 years to create the current theocratic zeitgeist on which the MAGA parasite is parading to victory. It is not a sudden and surprising uncoordinated incidental movement preying on the Bible belt’s misguided moral anxieties. Haphazardly funneling the reactionary rhetoric of today into a Four Years Hate to seize power and further the ideology of Paul Weyrich. No. It is a dedicated effort. A calculated tactic. Others are replicating it and fascism is on the rise world 'round.
Successful opposition to the oligarchy-backed, well organized, long-planned, and now popular out and proud American fascist hate campaign will not be found in treating symptoms or placating concerned citizens or maintaining the status quo. What, then, is the Progressive answer? What tactic is the Biden Administration, or the Democratic Party, or anyone anywhere deploying that we should “grow the fuck up” and wait to see the impact of? Why should I, or any concerned citizen, trust that this is so?
Getting to the point where someone might need to invade and liberate the United States.
Come on, guys! We’ve got oil and everything!
The Finns. They seem cool. Come on Finland invade us!
I dunno, my non-drinking finnish acquaintance and former gaming buddy (Stupid RL getting in the way all the time) regularly rants about the idiocy of his countrymen during hockey season. :P
July 4th would be a great day to apologize to the king and beg him to take us back.
