The [Supreme] Court easily could have let the lower court ruling against Trump [having presidential immunity] stand, but Roberts orchestrated a ruling that effectively pardoned Trump retrospectively and prospectively. That unprecedented and partisan edict paved the way for Trump’s return to power.

The Constitution provides zero immunity for presidents from criminal prosecution. But John Roberts chose to be the kingmaker, giving Trump king-like powers last year, and then this year mowing down well-founded and well-grounded temporary restraining orders [that allowed] an array of unilateral and extreme dictates to proceed — even though doing so will cause irreparable harm [by letting Trump] transgress constitutional provisions, laws passed by Congress and long-standing legal precedents.

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[–] 4 points 1 year ago (5 children)

They set up a system that could be amended over time to address this kind of thing.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    Yet the combination of hyperpartisanship, congressional gridlock, and a politics divorced from objective reality had made that remedy functionally unavailable

    Just some of the many things that they couldn't anticipate hundreds of years ago at a time where there was nine or so states.

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    1. There were thirteen colonies that declared independence and became the first thirteen states. Also George Washington predicted exactly that and tried to stop the formation of political parties and normalize the appointment of political rivals to cabinet positions to prevent it. Unfortunately he wasn't successful in either of those things.
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  • [–] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)
  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It isn't a perfect system, but they did acknowledge that they couldn't foresee everything and included a system that would allow for addressing these kinds of issues.

    Even if they foresaw this very specific way of running the country into the ground it wouldn't matter because the administration and the conservative members of SCOTUS and the Republicans in congress are all blatantly ignoring the law and the constitution and every other part of the system they want to ignore. No system would be able to stop a hostile takeover that ignores the safeguards of the system.

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