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The Screaming Moderate

With fear for our democracy, I dissent too

7/2/2024

2 Comments

 
It may make sense to some people that the Founders, who wrote our Constitution before AR-15’s existed and before anyone thought a former President was a messiah, put our President above the law – but it makes no sense to me.

I know, I know “yeah, that’s not true.” But, well,  common sense!

Besides, let’s just say ex-President Trump is elected again. Here is a chap who thought he could order assassinations of his enemies, who wanted a military parade in his honor, who admires and snuggles up to dictators and murderers – and that was before anyone thought the Supreme Court would open the door for that kind of behavior.

But open it, the court did.

Unfortunately, now the country is facing an election where one candidate is believed too old and lacking the capacity to be president and the other candidate is Donald Trump, who hasn’t met a Constitutional requirement he didn’t think he could ignore.

I mean, as soon as the court issued this opinion, his lawyers were asking the New York justice who oversaw the trial where he was convicted of 34 felonies – by a jury of his (whether he agrees or not) peers - to throw out the verdict. Please tell me how, when he was not even President, that makes sense? And now, though the District Attorney who prosecuted him still thinks he is a legitimate conviction, he’s agreed to delay sentencing while the Constitutional issue is looked at.

And I think (hope) that even this Supreme Court would agree if he made the payoff when he was President, he is not immune.

This is a man who, before the ruling, said he’d be a dictator only on day one (as if the President has that power) … now, it appears he may have that power?

(By the way, has anyone had as great a week in his life as Donald Trump is having?)

My friends who support Trump, I’m sorry. This ruling is crazy. No one is above the law in this country – but now maybe someone is?? How can that happen?

Put aside that it most directly will affect Trump if he’s elected. But all future presidents? Oh, by the way, it means it affects the current President right now. Let's see how Joe Biden handles his new powers.

It looks like we truly are facing a binary choice in November. And, neither is my favorite either.

But given someone who will (still) follow the Constitution and not think he’s above the law and someone itching to have the backing of the Supreme Court so he can be a dictator for more than Day One, I know who I’m voting for.

I have a friend when saw me comment after the court’s ruling, “does this mean Biden can call Justice and have Trump indicted,” responded, “he’s already done that.”

People, wake up. If you have an evidence that Biden ordered any one to indict Donald J. Trump, please show it to me – hell, I’ll vote for Trump if that’s the case! Just, show me the receipts as they say now.

Can we stop putting forward conspiracy theories – on both sides – and deal with, what did we used to call them? Oh yeah. FACTS.

Millions of voters already look at Trump as the Messiah, sent by God to save the country. Please. Wake up. If the Lord was going to send a messiah would He choose a man with the morals of a mongoose (no offense to mongooses).

The only redeeming value of the SCOTUS decision is that the lower court can hold a hearing where the evidence can be laid out against Trump so a determination can be made as to what is protected activity and what isn’t.  Even there, Trump recorded a win as that hearing is delayed for 32 days because  the court did not send its decision “forthwith,” which means the decision isn't an order until it gets to the lower court for 32 (now 31) days.

The judge overseeing the Jan. 6 case has, at every step, tried to expedite the case. So maybe – maybe – that hearing can be held before the election so voters an make their own determination on the evidence.

Evidence – not conspiracy theories.

As Kate Shaw in an op-ed in the New York Times said, the decision “jettisons the long-settled principle that presidents, like all others, are subject to the operation of law…It has removed a major check on the office of the presidency at the very moment when Mr. Trump is running for office on a promise to weaponize the government against those he views as enemies.”

Now, is even the Supreme Court a check on the presidency?

And no, my Trump supporting friends, Joe Biden didn’t order Trump’s prosecutions – show me the evidence. Please! Otherwise, STFU about that. I'm really tired of it.

As Justice Sonia Sotomayor said of the aptly named case “Trump vs the United States”:

“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”


2 Comments
John Hofeldt
7/4/2024 09:22:01 am

How many executives orders did Biden issue on Jan 21 2020? Didn’t he act like a dictator on day one? It’s okay for him but not anyone else, Is the country BETTER since he been President? Answer is NO!!! But people believe what they want to believe no matter what the facts are!! I thought that they were going to be VERY transparent when they were elected, I guess it isn’t the case.

Reply
B. Jay
7/4/2024 09:51:34 am

While I’m not a fan of governing by executive orders, that’s not dictatorship. It’s allowed. Executive Orders were created by Article 2 of the Constitution. Individual orders can be and have been legally challenged. The judicial branch oversees those challenges. Those are the facts of Executive Orders.

The country being better or worse of course is a function of perception or what measure one uses, what lens you see it through.

Facts matter. If they didn’t, we are all screwed.

You apparently see the world through a partisan lens. I don’t. I do my best to use facts. Instead of being for Trump or Biden or against Trump or Biden, try using facts to make those judgments. Bottom line of that is both have been right at times and wrong at times.

Voting in my world should be based on facts and the governing philosophy of a candidate.

Reply



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    B. Jay Cooper

    B. Jay is a former deputy White House press secretary to Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He also headed the communications offices at the Republican National Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Yale University. He is a former reporter and is the retired deputy managing director of APCO Worldwide's Washington, D.C., office.
    He is the father of three daughters and grandfather of five boys and one girl. He lives in Marion, Mass.

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