Black Saturday: The Day Democracy Died

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DZero

Golden Member
Jun 20, 2024
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From my perspective the immunity decision was 'the president is a king so long as he goes along with what SCOTUS wants' while in this case he's more saying he's a king regardless of what SCOTUS wants.
Actually is not a king, but a tyrant.
 
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K1052

Elite Member
Aug 21, 2003
52,062
45,010
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You can almost smell the Federalist Society flop sweat that Trump could undo, for his own power, decades of efforts to make a conservative judiciary the de facto rulers of the United States. Not worth a damn if everything falls apart.
 
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DZero

Golden Member
Jun 20, 2024
1,333
487
96
You can almost smell the Federalist Society flop sweat that Trump could undo, for his own power, decades of efforts to make a conservative judiciary the de facto rulers of the United States. Not worth a damn if everything falls apart.
It is already falling apart. They want to rescues as much as they can before US goes full Yugoslavia with a brutal civil war included
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,884
4,885
136
From my perspective the immunity decision was 'the president is a king so long as he goes along with what SCOTUS wants' while in this case he's more saying he's a king regardless of what SCOTUS wants.
And he would be correct because any judges that would argue the use of military force to kill dissenting judges doesn't qualify as an official act simply wouldn't be present by the time such an immunity case finally made its way up to the SCOTUS.
 

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
87,699
54,682
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And he would be correct because any judges that would argue the use of military force to kill dissenting judges doesn't qualify as an official act simply wouldn't be present by the time such an immunity case finally made its way up to the SCOTUS.
The court very well might go back and overturn/limit this ruling in the future but as it stands by the letter of the law Trump can have SCOTUS killed and he would be immune for doing it.

Telling Seal Team 6 to kill SCOTUS is very obviously is an official act as per the text of their ruling. Remember, they ruled that the president ordering the DOJ to open up sham investigations into his political opponents is an official act because when he is giving direction to a federal agency that's an official act, immune from criminal sanction. Giving orders to the military is very obviously an official act - his role as the head of it is expressly stated in the Constitution.

This was of course very clearly spelled out in the dissent and was pointedly never addressed by the ruling other than to call them out for 'extreme hypotheticals'.
 
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Dec 10, 2005
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The court very well might go back and overturn/limit this ruling in the future but as it stands by the letter of the law Trump can have SCOTUS killed and he would be immune for doing it.

Telling Seal Team 6 to kill SCOTUS is very obviously is an official act as per the text of their ruling. Remember, they ruled that the president ordering the DOJ to open up sham investigations into his political opponents is an official act because when he is giving direction to a federal agency that's an official act, immune from criminal sanction. Giving orders to the military is very obviously an official act - his role as the head of it is expressly stated in the Constitution.

This was of course very clearly spelled out in the dissent and was pointedly never addressed by the ruling other than to call them out for 'extreme hypotheticals'.
As I saw elsewhere, John Roberts wanted the president to be a king, answerable only to God, with John Roberts being God.
 
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Viper1j

Diamond Member
Jul 31, 2018
4,439
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Opinion | This is not a drill: Trump's new attack on America means no one is safe​


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“Whenever law ends, tyranny begins.” —John Locke

When a president declares an “invasion” to justify shredding the Constitution, he’s not defending the nation—he’s declaring war on democracy itself.
The United States of America has long been defined by its commitment to the rule of law. For over 240 years, this nation has stood as a beacon of justice, due process, and constitutional order. Yet today, we are witnessing a grotesque and unprecedented assault on those very principles.
Donald Trump, in his endless pursuit of authoritarian control, is now weaponizing a wartime-only power—the Alien Enemies Act—to circumvent legal protections, deport individuals without any due process, and imprison people indefinitely with no evidence.
This is an atrocity, an outright attack on the very foundation of our democracy, and it must be met with fierce resistance from every true patriot.
The Alien Enemies Act, a relic from the 18th century, was intended for use during actual wartime to address foreign threats. It was never meant to be a political cudgel for a desperate demagogue who seeks to inflame his base with fear and xenophobia.
Trump and his cronies, however, have now declared that migrants crossing the southern border constitute an “invasion,” an absurd and legally indefensible claim.
By invoking this law, they are sidestepping constitutional protections and rounding up people en masse, deporting them with no regard for individual circumstances, and throwing others into black sites without trial. This is not just an overreach of executive power—it is tyranny.
The administration’s blatant disregard for evidence is particularly chilling.
Thousands of individuals, many of whom have lived in this country for years or have fled unimaginable horrors, are being swept up with zero proof that they are gang members or threats.
Trump and his enablers do not care. They are deporting innocent people to countries where they face certain death, violating our laws, international treaties, and basic human decency. This is not immigration enforcement; this is state-sponsored terror.
Even more horrifying, Trump is ignoring court orders to halt these unconstitutional actions. He is deliberately undermining the judiciary, proving once again that he does not see himself as a president constrained by law but as a dictator accountable to no one.
If left unchecked, this power grab sets a precedent that no American is safe from arbitrary detention.
Today, it’s asylum seekers and immigrants. Tomorrow, it could be political opponents, journalists, or anyone who dares to criticize the orange menace occupying the White House.
This is not hyperbole.
Trump has already signaled his admiration for despots around the world, from Vladimir Putin to Kim Jong-un. He has openly fantasized about imprisoning his enemies, called for journalists to be punished, and incited violence against those who oppose him.
Now, with this unprecedented abuse of the Alien Enemies Act, he is laying the groundwork for a nation where due process is erased, where the rule of law exists only at his whim, and where Americans must live in fear of his unchecked power.
And let’s be clear: this is not just about immigrants.
The moment we allow a president—any president—to declare an “invasion” as a pretext for trampling the Constitution, we are all at risk.
If Trump can toss migrants into Guantanamo Bay or El Salvadoran prisons today, what stops him from doing the same to protesters tomorrow? To journalists who expose his corruption? To political rivals he deems a threat?
Once the line is crossed, once we allow the executive branch to function as an unaccountable dictatorship, there is no going back.
The Republican Party, already complicit in countless abuses of power, must be forced to confront this atrocity. Every Republican in the House and Senate who still believes in the Constitution—if any remain—must rise up and act.
They must demand Trump’s impeachment for violating his oath of office, for disregarding judicial authority, and for trampling on the rights enshrined in our nation’s founding documents.
And they must demand the removal of “Border Czar” Tom Homan for saying:
“We are not stopping. I don’t care what the judges think. I don’t care what the Left thinks. We’re coming.”

If they do not stop these men, they are aiding and abetting a dictatorship, and history will remember their betrayal.
But this fight is not just for Congress—it is for every American. We must flood the streets in protest. We must call our representatives and demand accountability. We must challenge this in the courts, in the media, and at the ballot box. Silence is complicity.
The time to resist is now, before Trump’s America becomes a full-fledged police state.
This is not a drill. This is not a partisan squabble. This is the moment when we decide whether the United States remains a constitutional republic or slides into authoritarian rule.
Every single American who values freedom, regardless of party affiliation, must speak out.
If we let this stand, history won’t ask how it happened—it will ask why we didn’t stop it.
 
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Jaskalas

Lifer
Jun 23, 2004
35,470
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What can be done if Trump is openly defying the courts?​

Not much, at least not within the legal system.
No one should be thinking legal solutions to a fascist problem.
When they are lawless, go lawless.
 

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,884
4,885
136
As I saw elsewhere, John Roberts wanted the president to be a king, answerable only to God, with John Roberts being God.
LOLOLOL Roberts is really a fool if he thinks Trump would play second fiddle to fucking anybody. Even God.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
62,035
17,817
136
You can almost smell the Federalist Society flop sweat that Trump could undo, for his own power, decades of efforts to make a conservative judiciary the de facto rulers of the United States. Not worth a damn if everything falls apart.
Oh, gosh, it's such a shame that there was no parallel event in history they could have looked at as reference for potential outcomes.
 
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Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,474
9,972
136
Oh, gosh, it's such a shame that there was no parallel event in history they could have looked at as reference for potential outcomes.
Tearing up the constitution or using it for a dartboard is a brand new look.
 

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
40,474
9,972
136
People forget because he turned out to be such a murderous tyrant but during Hitler's rise to power he was viewed as a clown who rich conservatives thought they could bend to their will, only to find out that the monster they created had gotten off the leash.

Sure does sound familiar!
Hitler was a frustrated painter with a "patriotic" bent. Trump a perpetually unsatisfied real estate mogul with an incurable festering inferiority complex which was at least partly his own creation.