Yesterday the US Supreme Court showed its true colors. For the past few months scandals involving Clarence Thomas and other judges receiving luxury gifts from GOP mega donors, the wife of Clarence Thomas urging a Federal crime in writing and the Chief Justice allowing lawyers vetted by and profited by his spouse to argue cases before the court–all have destroyed the image of integrity, honesty and fairness. The public’s opinion of this court is lower than it has ever been. And just when you thought it couldn’t get worse–it got much worse. Yesterday the court said it would consider whether a sitting president could be held legally accountable for his criminal acts after leaving office.
- Two courts, including an Appellate Court with a GOP-appointed senior judge, unanimously concluded that immunity is not to be allowed in this situation.
- Several extremely knowledgeable and capable legal minds submitted an Amicus brief to the Supreme Court affirming their opinion that immunity should not be allowed.
- Even Trumps lawyers at his TWO impeachment trials admitted that–after the impeachment and after Trumps’ term is complete–that’s the time for judicial reckoning. We guess that admission slipped the notice of the Supreme Court. Certainly Trumps’ lawyers have changed their tune.
- And recall the words of Trumps’ lawyer to the affect that Trump will beat the charges because the three SCOTUS judges he appointed are “on his side”. She didn’t worry about the overwhelming evidence of guilt.
- “No one is above the law”. If SCOTUS gives Trump ANY room to navigate beyond that simple and universally accepted rule, it will set a precedent that will “green light” any action by any future president. The mere fact that SCOTUS is willing to waste its time on this question is a damning reflection on the court.
- “Equal justice under the law”. This motto is etched into the front of the US Supreme Court building. Does it sound like SCOTUS is following that democratic principle? Is Donald Trump being treated like anyone else who stole 300 boxes of classified documents, incited an armed mob to attack the US Capitol and watched the plundering for 187 minutes while the mob shouted “Hang Mike Pence”? The law says that anyone who interferes with a Federal process is guilty of a felony. Does giving oxygen to the man who committed all these acts, conspired to set up fake electors and threatened any court and its staff members who opposed him—does all this sound like “equal justice”?…equal how?
- “Justice delayed is justice denied”. What a joke! By accepting the case SCOTUS is virtually guaranteeing that Trump’s Federal cases will not come to trial before the election. The American people will not see the cases decided because of the slow-walk tactics SCOTUS is not only accepting but also contributing to.
If history teaches us anything it teaches us that unlimited power in the wrong hands is the death of democracy. In 1934 Hitler orchestrated the passage of the “Enabling Act” which gave him unlimited power. He immediately dismissed police officials and replaced them with his own Gestapo and the Secret Police (SS) who took an oath of loyalty to him–not to Germany. Then he dismissed the German Congress–the Reichtag–by imprisoning all Reichtag members who were not members of the Nazi Party. (retribution) Within a year a suspicious fire levelled the Reichtag structure–signifying that Germany would not go back to its former rule. And then Hitler granted himself an extended term of office that would have lasted until at least 1947. Does this all sound familiar? We all thank God or our lucky stars or whoever that the US and our allies stopped the spread of dictatorship. This is what a failed democracy becomes. And with Trump’s anti-US Constitution talk it is obvious that he wants to craft his own set of rules for America. ..and all this is possible because SCOTUS has the political will to consider giving him total control.
Many intelligent sources fear the November election because the stakes are so high. We think Trump has no chance to win because most voters see through his thin image and know what he is and is capable of. But–if we’re wrong and the worst case scenario actually happens–250 years of democratic traditional freedoms, the best standard of living on the planet and stability for our foreign allies to take comfort in–all that is on the table because SCOTUS didn’t have the guts to recognize the danger they were condoning.
There can be no justice unless the basic rules listed above are followed…and for the highest court in the land to even consider violating all three rules is shameful. And the real shame is that the Founding Fathers never expected a total lack of integrity to dominate the Supreme Court. Otherwise they would have established a remedy for dealing with bad actors who had the potential to take us to the edge of the legal abyss.
It is hoped that SCOTUS will act immediately to deny immunity. But if it drags its legal feet maybe Joe Biden should take steps to assure the nation that Trump is never going to be president. The other strategy, of course, is the New York trial for misusing campaign funds to hush Stormy Daniels, Karen McDougal and the publication of his adultery right before the 2015 election–BEFORE HE WAS PRESIDENT. Michael Cohen served time for his role in the payment and concealment of the money transfer. He obviously acted on Trump’s behalf. So why wouldn’t Trump be found guilty and sentenced to imprisonment for at least as long as Cohen? After all, Trump did the deed–Cohen was just the helper.
Watch the timing on this case. SCOTUS–in its usual slowdown–is scheduling the case for April 22nd. This would almost certainly guarantee de facto immunity for Trump and all his criminal acts. Our only hope is our own sense of integrity. If Trump survives all his legal battles it will be up to the citizens to vote FOR our current democratic government structure…and maybe that’s as it should be. The really sad carnage is how many traitors Trump has revealed along the way…those who took oaths to “protect and defend” but didn’t. Those who were appointed with lifetime posts because they were supposed to have integrity and respect for the rule of law….but instead acted like cowards. And those whose blind allegiance supports the traitorous leaders because they believe the big grift.
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