07/02/24

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, July 2nd.

I Forgot Day

Ironic because as most people know, I forget things all the time. And yet this day will likely be stuck in my brain forever.

And now, the news.

The Court Rests (But Not for Long)

-via Washington Post, Oyez, SCOTUS Blog, NY Times, and Twitter

“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”[KM1] 

That is a quote from Donald Trump at a rally last December. And that’s him promising to be a dictator on day one.

Worrisome for sure but up until Monday we could at least say, “Yeah, but we have the courts to protect us.”

But on Monday, after an irresponsibly long delay, the court finally released its presidential immunity ruling.

So let’s break it down. In its ruling, the court set a dangerous precedent for future presidencies. On a 6-3 decision, the conservative majority ruled that a president cannot be charged, and is indeed immune, for any crimes done in an official capacity as president of the United States.

If he does something unofficially, he can be charged.

Where is the line between official and unofficial?

It was not drawn.

This of course throws Trump’s legal cases into chaos but the broadness of the opinion is where the real trouble lies. This isn’t just about Trump, though believe that he will take advantage of that in ways that are both predictable and unpredictable.

This is about every president moving forward. They now have the chance to do anything they want, as long as it is deemed an official act.

Let me read you a footnote of Justice Jackson: “While the president may have the authority to remove the Attorney General, for example, the question here is whether the president has the option to remove the Attorney General by, say, poisoning him to death.”

From Justice Sotomayor: “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law."

Because he is nothing but on brand, Historical Badman Justice Thomas decided this wide-sweeping and historical decision could, in fact, be worse! Because he also questioned whether Jack Smith should even be the special council. "If this unprecedented prosecution is to proceed, it must be conducted by someone duly authorized to do so by the American people. The lower courts should thus answer these essential questions concerning the special counsel's appointment before proceeding."

My dude, nobody asked you about Coach Beard!

“Unprecedented prosecution”… it’s unprecedented because no president has done insurrection before! That was unprecedented! Unprecedented is a court that is cool with the insurrection, which we know based on this ruling and also the time one Justice’s spouse texted with the chief of staff to encourage the insurrection while another put up two different flags, at two different times, in two different places, after the insurrection because they loved it so.

A footnote from Chief Justice Roberts added that "In the criminal context … the Justice Department 'has long recognized' that 'the separation of powers precludes the criminal prosecution of a sitting President.'" Suggesting that, were Trump to win again, all federal cases must stop.

And that was always the goal, wasn’t it? That’s why he running again. Because he loves the power and hates the consequences of his many crimes. (Also because he’s never done therapy.)

Following this decision, Trump has already begun an attempt to have his 2016 election interference crimes case thrown out. Hey Kim, isn’t that for crimes he did before he was president? Indeed, but this Supreme Court ruling also included the gem of an idea that prosecutors not only can’t charge a president for any official acts, but they also can’t cite evidence involving official acts to bolster other accusations. Part of the evidence in that case involved him writing checks from the White House.

And now he is already looking to have his charges overturned, by citing this ruling. The letter will be made available perhaps today. It’s a long shot for sure, but it’s important to note the immediate consequences of a case that will have far-reaching consequences.

With all of that in mind, I want to read you one last little something from Justice Sotomayor: “With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”

I talked about this yesterday when I went over Chevron and I want to repeat it here again – the point of this show is not to scare you when it comes to the news. The point is to help us all better understand what’s happening. That’s also been the goal – Not to break news. But to break news down. To help us all better understand it.

We shouldn’t be scared.

Being scared is for when there’s nothing we can do.

We should be worried.

I am, inherently, an optimist about this country. I believe our best days are ahead of us because history tells us that they are not behind us. But those best days require work.

They have always required work.

They require more work now.

And so we’re going to have to do a few things.

We’re going to look for the helpers. Look for the people doing everything within their power to right an egregious wrong, and we’re going to support them.

For example – Alexandria Ocasio Cortez announced on Twitter: “The Supreme Court has become consumed by a corruption crisis beyond its control. Today’s ruling represents an assault on American democracy. It is up to Congress to defend our nation from this authoritarian capture. I intend on filing articles of impeachment upon our return.”

Now, obviously, no one should expect this to work but I don’t care.

As I’ve said a million times – when it’s the right thing to do, when you are trying to be of service, get caught trying.

So we’re going to start seeing moves like that, and we’re going to support the work. We’re going to support the efforts.

And we’re going to stay as vocal as hell.

This doesn’t get to become a story from last week and next week we’re talking about something else.

Be talking about this.

The next president will likely have at least two seats to fill – Trump will make this court worse. He’s already reaping the benefits of the court he built, why wouldn’t he make it worse?

And yes I’m going to tell you to vote. Because here’s the thing – we have very real problems with the system. But we only get to do that work, we only get to keep fighting with our leaders and pushing them to do better and firing them when they don’t, if we get to keep having elections.

We have to get through this one, to be able to get to another one.

That’s not a cute pithy little thought, that’s a fact.

We only get to continue fighting for our democracy if we all show up and vote in this election.

The stakes are real and the Supreme Court just spent the last two weeks of this term showing you exactly how real they are.

Today I am angry and, frankly, exhausted.

Two emotions that have never served me well.

And so I will ask myself – what am I going to do about it?

How you feel about what happened today is up to you.

What we do about it is a task that falls to all of us.

Are you, and is everyone you know, registered to vote?

And that’s it. That’s the news.

More news tomorrow but your task today is simple – go to raisingvoters.org and take the pledge to be a voter. It’s completely nonpartisan but strong democracies require strong democracies.

Be a voter.

And because you will. And because I am… I’m proud of you.