SCOTUS Immunity Decision
Potential Silver Linings
It could have been worse had they given him immunity for everything. You can read the full decision here. You can turn on the TV or take to the internet and read all about how bad this is, and how it upends everything upon which this country was founded: Both the Constitution AND the Declaration of Independence
But…
Let’s look at some potential upsides. As I wrote yesterday, there are now going to be evidentiary hearings in front of Judge Chutkan. They won’t be as clean as I had hoped, because there are some restrictions, but both the judge and the prosecutors are smart and they will enter all sorts of evidence just to get information on the record, even if other courts end up striking them down as acceptable evidence at a later date. The goal here is transparency of data. There will be no trial between now and the election, so the best we can hope for is witnesses. Lots and lots of witnesses. Along with documented back-up.
This will keep Convicted Felon Trump’s actions relative to January 6th in the public eye on an ongoing basis. And remember, this election will be won on the margins, and more people will tune in the closer we come to November 5th.
In addition, by granting presidents full immunity for all official acts, this includes President Biden. And he has a host of options. Now, Justice Sotomayor (joined by Justices Kagan and Brown Jackson) wrote in her dissent that under this ruling, a president is immune if he uses Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival. She went on to write that she hopes that nightmare scenario, and the others she outlined, never come to pass. No one thinks that President Biden will invoke the Insurrection Act of 1807, and to suppress civil disorder, call off the election and just stay in power. Nor would he have the Convicted Felon assassinated. HOWEVER, let’s think about Executive Orders. President Biden has issued a lot of them, with respect to student loans, and health care, and lots of other things that Rethuglicans have brought to court and had stymied. Would it not be an official act to say to HHS, for example, to just cancel those student loans despite what the court said, since he has immunity, and they would just be following orders? Likewise, some of the border initiatives…just do it. Creative use of the ruling.
Not to mention having the FBI walk into Mar-a-Lardo, Bedminster (especially Ivana’s grave), and Trump Tower to collect additional documents, computers and footage, in the name of national security.
And remember the Fischer decision of a few days ago regarding obstruction? While some Jan 6th people might get reduced sentences, PAPERWORK was excluded, and so going after all of Trump’s papers and related communications (like with Putin) are still fair game, from both national security AND obstruction perspectives.
And let’s not forget the possibility of court packing. Yeah, it didn’t work out so well for FDR in 1937, but there’s no reason to not make a second run at it, especially when we win in November.
Yes, I wrote “when we win in November.” You might have been apoplectic after the debate, and you may be horrified by the SCOTUS decisions of the last several days. But above all, you should be furious. And that visceral fury should compel you to take action to help elect Democrats up and down the ballot this November. I guarantee that if you spoke to 10 on-the-fence voters (likely a few times for each) over the next 4 months (which is, as an aside, how long Steve Bannon will be in prison) and if you convinced just ONE of them to also talk to 10 voters, and so on, we couldn’t lose. Democrats, Independents, Greens, Libertarians, and even a small percentage of Republicans do NOT want to live in an autocracy. We do not want to live under the auspices of Project 2025. The list of things we do not want is HUGE, and worth fighting for. Just a few:
No abortion for ectopic pregnancy and 10-year-old girls who were raped.
No birth control.
No immigrants (All of us are either immigrants or descended from immigrants. ALL OF US.)
No more elections. Ever.
No more media of any sort unless it’s government sanctioned.
No more freedom to marry the person you love.
Book burning.
Teaching the Bible in school, with the 10 commandments in all classrooms.
There are many more, but remember that unless you are a straight, white, evangelical Christian, you will be in danger of being jailed, having your property taken, and worse. And that is why we, normal people, must fight with everything we have to win in November, so we can start to unwind the damage so far, and prevent even worse outcomes.
Please share this so that more people understand what is at stake.