TWGB: With Fear for Our Democracy

 

I will respect the limits of presidential powers that I have for three and a half years. But any president, including Donald Trump, will now be free to ignore the law.

I concur with what Justice Sotomayor wrote today:

"With fear for our democracy—I dissent."

So do I. pic.twitter.com/YmrPBMQhgY

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 2, 2024

I took a weekend-sized break from commenting on the "replacing Biden" discourse in advance of this actual decision.  Chief Justice Roberts can pretend he limited the immunity of a deranged and/or criminally intentioned officeholder to their "official acts", but I fail to see a brightline or obvious test for what that actually means. It is the decision of Humpty-Dumpty: When the court uses a word (or a phrase) it means what they chose it to mean, neither more nor less.   

The contentiousness of the debate over whether Biden. finding himself tongue-tied and twisted in a 90-minute fact-free-for all against a serpent-tongued bigot, misogynist, traitor, rapist, and white collar fraud, should step down pales before this--of course Trump is a bad man and Joe Biden is a good man. But who the fuck among them believes in the American experiment of a country of the people, by the people and for the people?  Because don't be mistaken, and far too many were in 2000 and in 2016:

You aren't just voting for a person, you are voting for a government. Will that administration care about good government that tries to lift us all up because it is the right thing to do? Or are you getting a petty tyrant and corruption? (Please ask yourselves what legalizing bribes and inviting everyone to go on ahead and sue to get the law you like, the congress be damned means--draining the swamp my fat ass.) 

Our talking heads and assorted media jackals aren't up to this shit. If Trump has a political enemies list, then the press-the folks he has called "enemies of the people" are going to be on it, it's just a question of when.  And they want to talk about whether an old man with a cold who has won back our allies, stands up to our enemies, and has reinvigorated our economy glitched during a dog and pony show? 

Are they not up to this historical moment? Do they have no read on the failures of history? Are they entranced by the notion that It Can't Happen Here? 

It has been happening. And I don't think the six justices recommended by the Federalist Society who set the authors of the Federalist papers to spinning in their graves are altogether unaware of the harm they just did to our functional democracy. They are exhuming McCarthy. They are exonerating Nixon. They are vindicating Bork. The right-wing has been grinding axes for so long the whole woods are in trouble. 

But chopping trees is slow and arson is fast, so they just handed a future president matches and a crop-duster full of accelerant. Even knowing they have someone on deck who is that very arsonist. 

I don't know who I heard say this, but the loss of our democracy is going to be like bankruptcy--slow at first, and then fast. I don't want Trump and whatever ditto he runs with to have this power--give me Biden/Harris. Give me people who respect the rule of law. Give me people who won't burn us all for fucked up reasons. 

And here's the real, real thing we have to embrace:

I do not want to see this woman overlooked, disregarded or counted out. I have Joe Biden's back, and that means I respect his VP. Actually, I respected and rooted for her before the primary voting ever started in 2020--and I think we need to allow time to appreciate who she is and what she can do. She can carry the torch of democracy. She understands what has made the Biden Administration successful. She is young and intelligent. She will do great. I truly am not interested in the "contested convention" 1968 shit some people want to play games with. We have a person who can be that standard-bearer if Biden is incapable. 

So how is this a TrumpWorld Grab Bag if it is about Biden and the Democratic party responding to SCOTUS? Because we have to respond to beat Trump. 

Trump must be beaten by the people. This isn't just about Biden/Harris--it's about US. What we need to do. Our democracy dies if we don't use it. It dies if we throw little fits and vote for Ralph Nader or Jill Stein. Or RFK, Jr. It dies if we don't look at the big picture. 

The Supreme Court by 6-3 laughed off Trump's history of crime to pave the way to his getting through the 2024 election without our considering his 2020 election interference, or his documents case. But they matter, and must be made to matter. And I sure do hope the details of these cases, even if they don't convict him, DRRRRAAAAAAGGGGGGG his ass through the consideration of whether he is temperamentally, morally, someone who belongs in higher office (again). The people deserve to know who they are voting for. The people deserve their leaders be subject to the Constitution the same as they are, not being Orwellian animals who are more equal than others. 

So, this 4th of July week, with fear for the democracy our forefathers gave us, I too, dissent. I do not intend to obey in advance. We will all hang together or we will hang separately. We have a Republic, if we can keep it. And stuff like that.