going from “robust system of checks and balances that ensures the sanctity of the democratic process” to “b-b-but he’s supposed to act in good faitherino!”
Trump could say “The Constitution says the law has to be faithful to the president. That means I can do what I want and it’s already in the Constitution. Checkmate.”
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“Checkmate” is not a thing Trump would actually say but I had to put it in there.
Context
She’s a MSNBC legal talking head and an ex-prosecutor so she doesn’t want the libs to give up on the law.
Laws are only as good as their enforcement mechanisms. And brother, those mechanisms are gone.
To quote jello Biafra “the law don’t mean shit if you got the right friends”
And what is Congress doing to stop it?
Let me consult my notes… Let me consult my files… Let me— I’m being told in my earpiece the answer is “nothing”. Oh…
No not nothing. They went over to the department of education and asked nicely to be let in only to be turned away by the security guard. So they tried their best.
My take on that - https://hexbear.net/comment/5901626
But the parliamentarian said!
Senate Parmesianarian says no
The constitution my ass
he can’t do that!
I’m stealing that and using it a Bluesky over and over to the risible law brains. In fact - I might even make my own text meme.
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Ninja edit
I had to add more words otherwise libs might think I was one of them.
While this Andrew Jackson quote may be apocryphal, what would actually stop another US president from doing the same thing?
“[Chief Justice of the Supreme Court] John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!” — alleged response to Worcester v. Georgia (1832) which would have curtailed settlerism on tribal lands
what would actually stop another US president from doing the same thing?
The outlines to the answer will start this year when the supreme court is in session. My wild hunch is that when some of Trump’s (and Musk’s) clearly illegal and unconstitutional acts reach the supreme court - the GOP justices will issue utterly bizarre rulings that sideline congress and change the three branches of government to effectively function like 1.40 + 1.40 + 0.20. Trump and the court will be roughly equal partners but congress will be reduced to rump status.
I could be all wrong about that particular outcome but I’m 100% certain the GOP justices will do whatever they want - laws be damned, precedence be damned, norms be damned etc. Trump - monstrously stupid as he is - understands something about the law to his bones. It drives me insane that so many liberals can’t understand or refuse to understand it.
“Don’t tell me what the law is - tell me who the judge is.” - Roy Cohn
If you study American government, one of the first things you learn about is Marbury v. Madison and how the Supreme Court gave itself the power to challenge the constitutionality of legislation, because they made a good argument for it and nobody decided to oppose that move.
For any cognizant person, the takeaway is that “you have as much power as you are able and willing to claim and defend in political battles”, that there was a pivotal time when it was more common for people to be doing this, and that people have just been taking all their cues from the stabilized environment since then.
Barb McPlayed
