By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ
BROWNSVILLE, Texas |...There's no other way to look at it, not if you keep up with daily events. The president's speech hours after the latest Supreme Court ruling says much. Angry Republican Donald J. Trump's campaign for president has boiled over into detestation.
He wants to be a dictator. President Joe Biden calls it dangerous for the citizenry.
It's the result of yesterday's surprise ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in which the issue of absolute presidential immunity sought by Trump was roundly endorsed by the nation's High Court. That came in a 6-3 decision, with all Republican-appointed justices going along with the idea, but it came. The three justices appointed by Democrats dissented strongly.
Trump roundly lauded the decision, which beyond asserting his position that a president cannot do the job without full immunity, well, also continued his ceaseless effort to delay a trial in Washington, D.C. to do with Trump's involvement in the January 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol Building - a needed trial now so far down the road as to go beyond the November General Election.
Trump keeps winning, yes.
What's America to do? I mean, people in the city and lunch-bucket towns. What recourse do they have, if they believe in government checks & balances, as most American students are taught in school. What can anyone do?
Nothing. Except vote. That's it. Congress is not going to challenge the Supreme Court. The president can oppose or decry it, but he's not going after the partisan justices. President Biden apparently could after this ruling, but he won't. It's not his style.
Pro-Trump Americans, meanwhile, are giddy as all get-out. For them, the living room has become the bedroom. MAGA disciples were all across the Internet minutes after the ruling, insisting that all the legal problems faced by Trump are now suspect (since a president, they noted, can do anything he wants).
These are largely old White Americans in graying hair and goatees, their women with the forearms of a plumber. Noisy, mouthy Americans - the sort of individuals we used to assign to uncultured Nicaragua and Panama.
But it's a new day and anything can happen.
The election cannot come soon enough. Until then, the country is held hostage by the ridiculous words of convicted felon Donald J. Trump and actions from his band of racist bigots.
Is it a Dark Day in America, as some pundits are saying?
No, not really.
This is nothing more than rootless excitement, brought into the living room by the news of the day. We're surviving in a time of unsurpassed bleakness where the landscape of failures has opened up to reveal our dismal glamour.
We're still the United States of America, the world's however-roiled best country. You could go along with those who say we need to return to the calmer days of yesteryear. But that's just a dream still carried by our aging, dying population.
Geriatric absurdity is temporary. This too shall pass...
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Few problems with our Comments feature in yesterday's robust reader commentary. Perhaps today will mirror yesterday...
ReplyDeleteIt makes me sick to think that that person got another pat on the back from the supreme court. Imagine if this ruling were in place when January 6th happened. How are we to remove a future President that loses re-election but refuses to leave?
ReplyDeleteOne does not view conduct designed to subvert the outcome of a presidential election as "official duties," especially when 61+ court rulings clearly stated Biden won.
ReplyDeleteLast celebration for repub....and supporters of Tru......It's all over.
ReplyDelete"This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each, each of us is equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law. Not even the president of the United States." - President Joe Biden
ReplyDeleteTrump golf courses’ liquor licenses not renewed after conviction.
ReplyDeleteThat's great!
Good morning, federal prisoner Steve Bannon. Ha ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteI join you from Matamoros, Mexico: Ja ja ja ja ja
DeleteBannon cleaning prison toilets at this very minute!
DeleteCourt Supremacy: The Supreme Court appoints itself ultimate expert on governing. And of course none are elected by the people. And we have no recourse. And who knows what they'll do next. I mean the ruling 6 Republicans on the court. MOFOS!!!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what would happen if President Biden, as an official act, decided to add 6 new justices? He could get the Senate, controlled by Democrats, to approve them immediately and he would be immune from any oversight.
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued by that.
DeleteNew York Judge Juan Merchan needs to sentence Trump to 8-10 years in prison on July 11th and refuse to continue bail pending appeal. Throw him in jail and we can all wait to see how SCOTUS violates the constitution. re: states rights.
ReplyDeleteI think secretly, more Americans are going to vote blue because of the immunity ruling. The idea that the president of the United States is immune from Criminal prosecution for basically everything is not going to strike a chord with most average Americans. Roe was already going to hurt the GOP in the election, I think this was the nail in the coffin.
DeleteWe ignore at our peril the rage that animates Trump voters and threatens Biden’s chances this fall.
DeleteWhen are politicians going to stop trying to get one up on the other party and start running this nation like they were elected to do. Political hatred for the other party will lead to the death of this nation.
DeleteWe in Brownsville hate Donald Trump. There, I said it.
ReplyDeleteHe is equally hated on SPI.
DeleteFirst time offenders don't get jail time, Donald? Tell that to your old fixer Michael Cohen. Same crime, plus Cohen cooperated and accepted responsibility.
ReplyDeleteThe choice is with the people! Vote blue! Vote Biden/Harris. We shall overcome….
ReplyDeleteTrump going to Saudi Arabia? It'd be great if he fled the country.
ReplyDeleteIs he allowed to travel while awaiting sentencing? tell me that, no, he isn't. He'll flee the country like a coward. Watch.
DeleteThis rule was already in force. The Supreme Court only reiterated it is all. Presidents have always been immune for official acts as president. So, no Trump is not off the hook, and no his appointed judges didn't do him any favors. The SC just upheld what is already law. All that did was push out any future problems for Trump and he will pardon himself once reelected. So yes, it is a big win for Trump (provided he wins the election), but it was a win only because it was already law.
ReplyDeleteIf that were true, then the 8-0 decision in U.S. vs Richard M. Nixon in '76 is wrong and the tricky one wants his office back. (By the way, 5 of the 8 justices in that case were appointed by Republicans, 3 by Nixon himself. THAT is judicial independence.)
DeleteTrump seeks to postpone New York sentencing, throw out convictions following SCOTUS ruling.
ReplyDeleteAll official acts have criminal immunity.
ReplyDeleteBiden should have Trump immediately arrested.
I can't believe the Supreme Court didn't think through their decision.
I am not all that wild for Biden, but he's getting my vote over freaky felon Trump. 100%.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Donald Trump still allowed to walk free?
ReplyDeleteI want televised military tribunals for Donald Trump's treason.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable that after 250 years, we the people must now wrest back our country from the hands of a wannabe king and dictator. He's a traitor. Let's not make him out to be anything normal.
ReplyDeleteCrazed Trump wants to vacate (get rid of) the recent guilty verdict in his NYC hush money trial. Not happening, says Manhattan D.A.
ReplyDelete11:39 am: I understand your feelings, but we lost this war in 1869. Other than a resident of one state cannot sue another state, there is no concept of immunity in the constitution. It is all judicial made law. The 11th Amendment came about after the Supreme Court found Immunity does not exist. In 1869, the Supreme Court abolished the basic legal basis for the creation of the US. The right to secede from a government which is not responsive to the people. In many states Thomas Jefferson has been relegated to a footnote. Nearly every court of appeals in the U.S. has found the law in the Declaration of Independence has no enforceable value. In 1869, the Supreme Court forever tied everyone one of us to the federal government. We went from being a free people to be subordinate to an oppressive government. While I believe in the right of secession, I do not believe any state at this time meets the standard. The Supreme Court in its ruling Texas was never a confederate state was so wrong, Congress had to formally readmit Texas in 1870. Our schools teach nothing about any of this. There is a well-known doctrine known as the Ferris Doctrine. No when cared about the decision because it made sense. But it was not the law. It was a simple short decision. The Court found veterans or even active-duty soldiers could not sue the military for injuries because the VA acted as a workers compensation system. Congress never said such a thing when they opened up the courts to allow people to sue for injuries by the government. But it made perfect sense, so we ignored it. During Reagan a family died because of the negligence of military air-traffic controllers, after Reagan fired nearly all the civilian air-traffic controllers. The Supreme Court under Ferris found if non-military victims can sue the military for negligence, it will make it impossible for the military to function. The legal basis: Ferris. There is nothing in Ferris which remotely suggests the decision was based on the impact of the command structure being impacted if soldiers could sue. So we began with a seemingly correct decision that the VA system was a form of military workers compensation, and ended with military air-traffic controllers can cause two civilian planes to crash into one another and no one is liable. The time to care was about 175 years ago, not now. You know Sonia Sotomayor is your typical judge. While on the Court of Appeals she found several times Absolute Immunity applies to Judges, no matter if while acting as a judge their conduct was criminal. So long as immunity protected her and her fellow judges it was AOK, but not AOK for the president. The time to fight was long ago when the Sotomayor in the judiciary were granting absolute immunity to judges. We are slaves to a very corrupt system of government. People buy into anything which serves what they want. The Texas Republican Party wants to put secession on the ballot. They will not tell you; you will lose Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA hospitals. You can keep your SS retirement because you can register as an expatriate and still have your retirement go into a US bank. Do you think the US will keep all the military bases in a foreign country named Texas? Do you think the military industrial complex will continue in Texas? Why? when US states will be begging for the contracts. If hurricane Beryl causes a major disaster in Texas, once Texas secedes why would the US American taxpayer support aid for Texas, a country which brags they have no taxes. This is the core problem. I know I went long but people need to think these things out. Those who want secession may get it, and find they live in a country which cannot provide US federal benefits.
ReplyDeleteReader, FYI: Your comment is all over the place. Narrow the info to one issue. This is like mall noise...mind-numbing.
DeleteLet me jump in here. I have no problem with this comment. It is lengthy and it does span several issues, but it's good information. We generally would prefer shorter comments, but will never deny anyone their say, in however many words they want to say it...
DeleteI agree it is too long, but the point was in response to the idea what is happening is new when in fact it is not. All I did was refer to actual historical fact, in hopes people will understand they need to pay closer attention because they have been destroying the Republic for a very long time. We just were not paying attention. But I agree for a lot of people it is too long.
DeleteThink! before you dismay. Picture it: a week after the election. Biden resigns after winning, and Kamala Harris becomes the first female president. It can never be said out loud, but Biden would serve this country well by putting Kamala Harris out there as someone who can take the reins of power at the drop of a hat.
ReplyDeleteMillion man march to the Supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteDitto that
DeleteMust happen. This has gone on too long and my faith in the courts is on the floor.
DeleteANOTHER WIN FOR TRUMP! Judge Juan Merchan postpones July 11th sentencing in Trump's criminal hush money case. Now rescheduled to Sept. 18th. Wow!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Orange Convict alone is above the law. King of the World, just like he always wanted.
DeleteI feel so unpatriotic, that I will not fly my flag this Fourth of July. This corrupt Supreme Court has angered me immensely.
DeleteTo karen: Maybe you should fly the flag upside down for one day.
DeleteThis is beyond exhausting. trump needs prison TODAY!!!
DeleteDonald Trump started the ball rolling on his Truth Social site, calling the ruling a “BIG WIN FOR OUR CONSTITUTION,” even though there is no direct mention of presidential immunity in the Constitution. Other Republican lawmakers are piling on, expressing their satisfaction with a ruling that sets the president up to be a dictator.
ReplyDeleteSo long as it doesn’t apply to the actual sitting president, Joe Biden.
OMG, Judge Merchan, when will this nightmare end? He’ll die before he ever pays for what he’s done. Why is everybody afraid of this man!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat scares me even more is if Trump loses again in November, he won’t concede, and he’s already got the Supreme Court on his side
ReplyDeleteAnd still no sign of a national protest. What does that tell you?
DeleteWhen as a Nation that once stood for Honesty and Freedom are we going to Stand Up and Stop this ruining of our Once Greatness? We're going down without a fight? And those 416,800 who died in WWII, the 58,220 who died in Vietnam? This cannot stand.
DeleteTrump had the Supreme Court in his pocket all along. Nothing - NOTHING! - will come out of all the charges and trials. Trump wins, we lose.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Trump said he's going to "make Biden pay" for Steve Bannon going to jail. Even if Biden was involved, which he wasn't, this Supreme Court ruling would give Trump immunity.
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable! We can't get a blessed break!!
ReplyDeleteTHIS court will always find a way to side with Trump when any case finds its way back to them. And they would not give Biden the same treatment.
ReplyDeleteI voted for Trump in 2016, and I will not vote for him now. He has only gotten worse since 2020 in terms of his anger and lying. His denigrating the country of his birth is the worst thing about him. Do you really want a president who thinks so poorly of this great country?
ReplyDeleteTrump won. He won completely. He tried to overthrow the government, and he got away with it. I cannot even imagine what he’ll try if he is actually given power again, knowing full well that he will never be held accountable for literal crimes. Not by this - HIS! - Supreme Court.
ReplyDeleteJust Stay in Power, President Biden. Trump would. Call OFF the Election.
ReplyDelete