To remind people of the masterful evil that IS the MAGA party:
At his Impeachment, we were told that this is “for the Courts to decide.”
In Court, we are told that “this is a matter for Impeachment.”
[You literally could not make this stuff up]
They found the two vulnerabilities and more or less fortified them both.
Even a cursory perusal of Project 2025 tells you that these people are orders of magnitude beyond the Democrats in terms of Organization, organization, machinery, mechanisms, troops, cohesion, choreography, dark money, and commitment.
Not too hard to do when all you have to do is focus on how to grab the most power and money. It’s not like they care about the future of the country or anything.
Dahlia Lithwick, a relentless defender of the rule of law, recognized yesterday’s seismic shift. “As an official representative of the legal commentariat I want to suggest that tonight’s a good news cycle to talk to the fascism and authoritarianism experts. This is their inning now …”
Timothy Snyder: On Tyranny, 20 Lessons from the 20th Century, 2016 article length edition:
Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump—who has pledged to be a dictator on “day one” if elected to another four years in the White House—is reportedly preparing to exploit the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Monday that current and former presidents are entitled to sweeping immunity from criminal prosecution.
Citing unnamed advisers to the former president, Axios reported Tuesday that if Trump is reelected in November, he “plans to immediately test the boundaries of presidential and governing power, knowing the restraints of Congress and the courts are dramatically looser than during his first term.”
That was then. This is now. In the last four years, the Heritage Foundation and their ilk have made Trump into their useful idiot in their power grab. They have harnessed his world-class con man skills to bring about their own fascist agenda (Project 2025). He is incapable, of course, of realizing this because they have learned exactly how to manipulate him and he can’t even conceive that anyone could do that to him. He will be kept out of their way by rallies with his adoring fans, “executive time” and fawning media fed to him. Already he has someone whose only job is to follow him around printing favorable articles to soothe him. They know how to make him feel “presidential” by assuring him that their ideas are his own and he is the smartest, wisest man who ever lived. Anyone who thinks that Trump will stumble through another term will be in for a rude awakening. Well, yeah, he will stumble (just Trump being Trump) but those surrounding him this time most certainly will not.
The reason the GOP is now and will then get away with all of it is that it’s human nature to believe that if someone is doing evil, they will hide it. People think it can’t be so bad if they are being upfront about it. And the GOPers are doing things right out in the open for anyone to see. “Screaming the quiet part out loud” indeed. It may be too late for the majority of this country to wake up to that.
Regarding the President acting as Commander-in-Chief: where’s the Uniform Code of Military Justice, which was established by Congress in this? Yes, a president apparently could issue an order to assassinate someone; but even if the president couldn’t be prosecuted for issuing the order, couldn’t anyone who obeyed it be prosecuted? Or more likely, if they refused they couldn’t be punished for refusing?
Okay, just so I’ve got this right, fill in the blanks below:
Before the ruling, the current president is considering assassinating political opponents. The immediate consequences he has to consider are _________ and, when and if he leaves office, ________.
After the ruling, the current president is considering assassinating political opponents. The immediate consequences he has to consider are _________ and, when and if he leaves office, _________.
Before the ruling, the current president is considering assassinating political opponents. The immediate consequences he has to consider are impeachment and, when and if he leaves office, prosecution.
After the ruling, the current president is considering assassinating political opponents. The immediate consequences he has to consider are nothing, because if the president does it it’s not illegal and, when and if he leaves office, nothing, because if the president does it it’s not illegal.
As Legal Eagle points out, commanding the military is an official duty of the president, therefore dispatching Seal Team Six to assassinate your opponents is immunized and no court can question it.
