msbellows

msbellows, 28 days ago

@SharonCrockett That's what Sotomayor proposed. I'm guessing the majority will require a pretrial process to determine which acts are immune and which aren't before trial can begin, though.

msbellows, 28 days ago

@SharonCrockett Except arguably some were. Talking with DOJ about investigating election fraud, for example.

msbellows, 28 days ago

@SharonCrockett Sure, but determining that requires figuring out his state of mind, and the kind of immunity Trump's arguing for is absolute.

msbellows, 28 days ago

@SharonCrockett

msbellows, 28 days ago

And Justice Thomas is hinting that maybe he buys the bs argument that special counsels are unconstitutional. Fuuuuck these people. Pack the damn Court.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Trump's lawyer is arguing that Presidential immunity can be inserted from the "Executive Vesting Clause."

Read that clause and let me know if you can interpret those thirteen words to mean anything like that:

“The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States.” (Const. Art. II, Sec. 1.)

What's REALLY going on is that he's inviting the Court's neocons to expand the unitary executive. Discussion of the clause here: https://constitutioncenter.org/the-constitution/articles/article-ii/clauses/347#:~:text=The%20opening%20sentence%20of%20Article,laws%20of%20the%20United%20States.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Oh fuck now Trump's lawyer is claiming that a comment by Robert Fucking Bork is the final authority on the impeachment clause, and binding on DOJ forever.

msbellows, 28 days ago

SCOTUS r.n.:

msbellows, 28 days ago

Trump's lawyer definitely is not getting invited to Justice Jackson's next barbecue.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Kavanaugh liking the proposition that no criminal statute can be used against a former president unless the statue contains a "clear statement" that the president isn't immune from it because that's OBVIOUSLY what the Framers intended and fuck fuck FUCK these corrupt rapey disengenuous fucking fucks straight in the nostril.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Now Alito is worrying that if Presidents can be prosecuted then FDR could have been indicated for civil rights violations for ordering Japanese citizens to be interned during WW2 and I'm all (a) FUCK YES FDR should have been prosecuted for that! and (b) am I nuts for wondering if Alito's laying the groundwork for Trump to intern Latino citizens if he wins a second term? c @georgetakei

msbellows, 28 days ago

Today's SCOTUS arguments are making me think the Constitution should be amended to give Presidents immunity while they're in office and then require that they be publicly executed at 12:05 p.m. on Inauguration Day right after their successor is sworn in. Only truly self-sacrificing public servants need apply.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Now Kavanaugh's joining Thomas in suggesting that independent counsel are unconstitutional and I'm waiting for Roberts to say something since he (along with Neil Katyal) were on the panel that wrote the current independent counsel law.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Kavanaugh just called Ford's pardon of Nixon "one of the better decisions in Presidential history" and (a) I consider that statement a per se proof of Kav's mental incapacity so let's impeach and also (b) nice try Brett but I don't think Biden is taking advice from you.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Barrett calmly suggesting that questions about whether a particular act is or isn't "official" shouldn't be decided by a jury as part of the trial but rather should be decided by a judge and then subjected to interlocutory appeal before a trial can begin and WE SEE YOU AMY WE KNOW YOU'RE TRYING TO ENSURE TRUMP ISN'T TRIED BEFORE 2025.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Drebeen (the good lawyer) now having to argue that even if the Court finds Trump is immune for official acts, prosecutors still could introduce evidence of his official acts so the jury can understand the whole context of the "private" acts he can be prosecuted for.

Because yes, the Court conceivably could write its decision in a way that even limits what evidence Smith can present at trial.

msbellows, 28 days ago

I know that most Presidents name newcomers as Chief Justice rather than elevating one of the sitting associate justices, but man, when Roberts finally leaves the bench I hope Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes Chief. She's brilliant and unflappable and understands the game.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Aaaand the case is submitted.

My takeaway/speculation: Trump will be granted some immunity for Jan. 6 but not total immunity; a process will be required to distinguish between private, official, and "core" acts before the trial proper can begin; requiring such a procedure may well hang up the other cases against him; and it'll all take so long that there's a 20% chance at best that Smith's main case against Trump will be tried before the election.

msbellows, 28 days ago

@heafnerj Agreed. With the right coordination, there could be six openings on the Supreme Court overnight.

msbellows, 28 days ago

Now that I've awakened from my four-hour post-rage nap (seriously), I'd like to apologize to everyone for using so many F-bombs while live-commenting this morning's SCOTUS hearing on presidential immunity.

I'd like to apologize.

But I won't, because these fucking "conservatives" are destroying every fucking institution of any fucking value, from the faith of Jesus H. "Love Thy Neighbor" Christ, to the Supreme Court of Thurgood Marshall, and everything in between, and just, you know, fuck those fuckers fuckingly. Fuck.

I'm sort of conservative myself, in the way that I believe America is A Good Thing At Heart™ and I believe in institutions and in classical truths and immutable moral principles and especially in the proud and fair-minded and intellectually rigorous traditions of the American legal system I have dedicated my adult life to–

– and then these fucking fuckhats blithely tear down every fucking good thing there is, while pretending to uphold them, and then smirk at their cleverness exactly like Brett fucking Kavanaugh slurping a Jagermeister shot from the navel of an unconscious Delta Gamma sophomore while his buddies cheer.

It's fucking exhausting.

Racoon Screaming GIF

msbellows, 29 days ago

@mcc @tsrono I saw an earlier post, and would respectfully suggest you not blame Biden so starkly when you repost. Congress is who just banned TikTok, not Biden. Biden received a bill that combined a TikTok ban with aid to Ukraine and had to choose whether or not to sign it, and he chose to save thousands of lives and preserve the very existence of an ally endangered by fascism. I would say that's the right call.

msbellows, 29 days ago

@mcc @tsrono Understood, but Biden also revoked Trump's outright TikTok ban, then negotiated with Congress to make it more focused on actual risks rather than blind-panic "omg the Commies will brainwash or kidnap my babiez!" hysteria. If TikTok survives, it'll be because of Biden. https://www.dwt.com/blogs/media-law-monitor/2021/10/biden-tiktok-executive-order

msbellows, 1 month ago

@ralfmaximus @GottaLaff Bless you.