First and foremost, Stephen Miller hates himself. He is a deeply disturbed little man who should have received psychiatric attention a long time ago. He may have been abused as a child, bullied in school. rejected by the opposite sex, not admitted to the college of his choice, failed in sports, not lived up to his academic or other ambitions (or all or a combination of the above), and is not able to deal with his own demons. What makes him even more vile is that he's Jewish, so he should be acutely aware of the evil impacts of discrimination, racism, etc. Anyway.
Agree 100%. Add to that "insufficiently Aryan-looking to meet his own expectations of being a member of the Master Race" - truly a mini-Hitler (whose failure to get into art school spelled doom for millions).
Someone called him PeeWee German and it’s nearly perfect, isn’t it?
PS: I read a while back that the source of his animus toward immigrants was being bullied in high school. Doesn’t excuse his vicious xenophobia, but it possibly explains it.
I hope it becomes increasingly more difficult for this extreme court to turn a blind eye to what is happening right now. Unprecedented in our time. I agree with you, the crooked court opened the floodgates with their immunity ruling. Now they have to tiptoe with their own ruling in place as felon 47 continues to openly and defiantly break the rule of law.
I'm not optimistic. It would be nice if he had an epiphany, and decided to do the right thing for Constitution and Country, but I just can't see it happening. I would love to be proven wrong.
I heard an interesting talk on npr. It said in times of turmoil, pessimists faired better because they were realistic about what is, and acted accordingly. Just a thought. :)
I think the only thing that would fix where we are is a compleate meltdown of america...trumpos will only get it when everything is broken by their guy...affecting THEM and meemaw
I feel they really did honestly think he would help them. Sad really, they were drowning people. Drowning in their racism,fear of immigrants, and desperation caused by income inequality.
he held up a life preserver at all rallys promising to save them. when the election was over, he put the life preserver on the dock turned around and walked away...he never threw it to them....
Agreed. The message needs to be sent, loudly and clearly, peacefully yet forcefully, to Roberts: if you don't, We the People, will. The same to Miller, if he doesn't stand down, and I mean, Now.
The UK got rid of Liz Truss in short order for her disastrous policies. South Korea removed its president when he overreached his authority. 45-47 needs to be removed for an endless list of crimes, but his enablers in Congress are too chicken to do it.
Knowing what we do from this administration it behooves us as voters to choose our congress people much more wisely. If they are running for an office. Put a camera in their face and ask them if they plan on keeping their oath of office if they get elected. I would make them forfeit the time and expense for impeachment if they don’t
Getting rid of him quickly is a dream that could turn into a real nightmare. The US, unlike the UK, has no provision for an election following removal from office. Our constitutional succession plan specifies the Vice President, then the Speaker of the House. Who are both younger and probably healthier than the current resident of the office. Does anyone want that result?
I agree on the risk, but remember Watergate. I'm convinced Nixon chose Agnew in part because of the unspoken message: if you think *I'm* bad...When his VP resigned, several bricks came tumbling down.
In the foreseeable future, no, I agree. But I hope my point is clear. We don't know who is going to do what, or when. Our desired, and indeed, needed outcome won't happen the same way it happened back then. I just plan on continuing to be one drummer in the steady, growing, louder drumbeat that will remove bricks in the wall faster than they can replace them.
I absolutely understand your point. The regimes of 45-47 have revealed the flaws in our system. I don’t think the founders thought someone as horrible as 45-47 would be elected to the presidency, nor did they think Congress would hand over its power to the executive branch. Hope of good character in elected representatives is a flimsy foundation for a country.
Being too chicken to do it is definitely a factor. But there is also self-interest. The power of corporate money and the economic vision of the Heritage Foundation which, among other terrible things, reduces the U.S. to a piggy bank for industry and the master class, has been a driving force in this country. Republicans, and some Democrats, benefit and are beholden to it to various degrees. Citizen’s United is a public and legal face of it. Until out of control capitalism and corporate power on a global basis is reined in we ( the U.S.and the world in general) will be fighting this same battle, electing these same greedy people, forever. I am not advocating for socialism in its true meaning ( state ownership of production), but whittled-down capitalism and increased social benefit for people.
My wife and I watched "Judgement at Nuremberg" this weekend for the first time and found it stunningly relevant to today. The film shows how a great German legal mind succumbed to loyalty to the state and how the judiciary became complicit in implementing Nazi atrocities. Brilliantly acted and directed, it's a gripping story and recommended viewing, especially now.
My Mom made me watch that movie as part of her "campaign" to ensure that I would never fall for the lies that she and her family succumbed to under the Nazis. It worked - my legal practice during my career included human rights and atrocity crimes. https://canuck21.substack.com/p/they-lied-to-us
Back in the 70ies in Germany, that film was part of history lessons (and history was taught to everybody). I have just watched it again yesterday, and yes, the parallels are stunning.
Roberts and the other Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court brought all of the Felon's lawlessness onto the American people when they gave the Felon immunity.
"Perhaps Roberts will need to be more specific when admonishing Trump and his thugs."
To say the least. How about "grow a pair of balls, drop the far-right ideology for a while, and start aggressively fighting back against the anti-democratic forces for which he himself and the court he nominally heads have cleared the way for so long"?
This discussion quickly became about the prez (again), and to some extent it was probably necessary. But this was focused on Miller v. Roberts, who are both big 'bricks' in the wall that this regime is trying to build. As for Roberts, everyone has limits to their patience, though I admit his doing the right thing is a long shot - he's too slick to just come out and admit error, and too shrewd not to toss an occasional bone to the rule of law.
Miller is another case altogether. Trump thrives on attention (one reason I refer to him by name as little as possible). Miller, on the other hand, thrives on *lack* of attention. When his phone number was publicized briefly during the first "administration", I swear I could almost hear his footsteps as he ran for cover - and of course, changed his number. That's why I'm hoping some hacker figures out how to track him down and leak his contact info to the four winds.
It's impossible to predict anybody's next move with certainty, friend or foe, but if the harsh, focused light of prolonged attention shines in his face long enough, I wouldn't bet against him saying or doing something so stupid, so inept, and so corrupt that even the Dump would be forced to dump him.
One more brick in the wall gone...or two, three, four, five? Six? Something to consider...
I’m sounding the alarm on a different subject bc I’m not sure where to post etc. the media has once again relegated this critical closing to the unimportant news cycle.
The NASA personnel in NYC were informed their jobs were being terminated and their building lease canceled as of May 30! No more research, no more pertinent weather patterns will be coming out of a 100+ office to keep us safe. These folks do climate research to help us see the dangers of weather patterns etc. their research is vital to our lives. Sound the alarm please!
Just in time for the June 1st start of hurricane season. I guess we will have to depend on President Trump & his handy sharpie to show us the path of the storm. Meanwhile, let’s dismantle FEMA.
NASA. my friend is a climate physicist for over 50 years, researching, studying and working to control global climate conditions and alert folks to what is going on now.
This began with Lewis Powell’s secret memorandum. Then Roberts gutted the Voting Rights Act. Then Roberts and Scalia approved bribery through Citizens United. Then Roberts created the fiction of presidential immunity.
Now Roberts is in a significant bind.
Thank you John Roberts for enabling the dismemberment of our Republic - dear leader won’t forget what you did FOR him. He will expect MORE from you.
I would be willing to bet that a significant percentage of the "Proud Boys" and the "3 percenters" and the other militia groups consisted of people who wear badges when they don't wear masks.
So, here's a paragraph from this article that I propose really needed a concluding editorial remark like the one enclosed in square brackets :
So it is a good thing then, as Chief Justice John Roberts reiterated last week, that the “Judiciary is a coequal branch of government, separate from the others with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law, and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of the president.” It is the courts’ job, Roberts pointed out, to “check the excesses of Congress or the executive.” There are plenty of executive excesses these days. Given Miller’s attempt to intimidate the courts, perhaps Roberts was wise to stress: “Judicial independence is crucial.” [Of course, these remarks are both laughable and ironic because Roberts is almost entirely responsible for the situation in which a Chief Justice has to make such remarks. He can't have it both ways: admonishing the current regime and being the founder of the current regime.]
He gives a criminal president absolute immunity and is disappointed and dismayed when the criminal tries to transform it into absolute power? Does Roberts actually have a brain?
A case has to be brought before the court where the application of the immunity decision is relevant. I do not think that has occurred yet. Then the court could possibly make a new ruling that could impact the extent of the earlier ruling.
With this Supreme Court configuration, is there any chance that a case like this brought before them would result in any new ruling? It's hard to imagine.
But as those nominated by trump stated during their "confirmation hearings" = they totally believe in precedent. Yeah right. Lied all through those hearings. And don't get me started on the viciousness of Kavanagh the way he talked back to Kobluchor (sp ?) during his hearing. What a horrid way for a potential Supreme Court justice to act!!
Why does Stephen Miller hate immigrants so much? His hatred of immigrants is visceral. Sociopathic. He is a sad, bitter little man, with far too much power.
First and foremost, Stephen Miller hates himself. He is a deeply disturbed little man who should have received psychiatric attention a long time ago. He may have been abused as a child, bullied in school. rejected by the opposite sex, not admitted to the college of his choice, failed in sports, not lived up to his academic or other ambitions (or all or a combination of the above), and is not able to deal with his own demons. What makes him even more vile is that he's Jewish, so he should be acutely aware of the evil impacts of discrimination, racism, etc. Anyway.
I had a friend who was admitted to the bar to practice in a couple of different Federal District Courts. The oath my friend had to take included something to the effect that they would not present an argument that was completely without merit and that was not even arguably valid.
I wonder when Federal Judges will refer the Government lawyers who present such absurd, baseless argument to the Disciplinary Committee of the relevant Bar Associations? Perhaps the threat of having their law license suspended or revoked might prompt those Trump Toadies to re-consider presenting arguments that are objectively ridiculous.
Would someone PLEASE explain that the president cannot accept the plane from Qatar. Every outlet I read says it is an ethics or legal issue. Would you please talk about the Constitution and foreign emoluments, and the President is again violating his oath of office.
The question of emoluments came up in the first Trump reign and after a lot of dithering no one actually called him on it. Why would we think it would be different this time?
Not true. CREW filed multiple lawsuits along these lines. Unfortunately due to constant delays they reached the Supreme Court only after the Trump presidency and thus were dismissed. I have been wondering if they can be revived in conjunction with new ones.
Sorry, I didn't mean to say no one objected or filed lawsuits to attempt to stop it. But, as you note, the SCt dismissed. It was inaccurate and maybe misleading to summarize the whole mess as "dithering". And, in fact, if "dithering" implies unknowing-ness, that's really inaccurate. I believe the SCt knew exactly what it was doing, and did it intentionally.
Stephen Miller is a moron, but any moron who tells Trump what he wants to hear is automatically elevated to an esteemed legal scholar. Let us hope that the Supreme Court does not defer to his brand of wisdom.
Stephen Miller didn't apply nor was admitted to law school, did not attend and did not earn a JD, never sat for the bar and is ABSOLUTELY NOT a lawyer or legal scholar. His degree is in political science.
Trump himself is a risible, lumbering old fool, visibly sinking into dementia, , more absurd with every passing day. He is dangerous because he is a reckless, vindictive little man and because the Court's reactionary majority has had the criminally poor judgment to have given him almost absolute power.
Stephen Miller and Russ Vought--who, it becomes more and more clear, are the powers behind this stinking throne--are a different story.
They are madmen too, fanatics, driven by foul obsessions: but they're neither reckless nor risible nor impaired. They are quite determined to transform this country into an authoritarian police state in which a handful of Republicans govern through terror.
They don't represent the broader Republican retreat from the reforms of the last hundred years: if that was all the Republicans were up to ,it would be relatively benign.
They represent a kind of Khmer Rouge fanaticism--a detailed, obsessive, determined will to create a new society through repression and mass terror. There is nothing in Miller's conduct, or Vought's, to reassure one. Both men are, I believe, capable of ordering bloody state violence, up to and including mass murder, to achieve their repulsive goal.
I will NEVER get it out of my system how evil that demon miller is. HE is the one responsible for the separation of children (without ANY way of tracing who belongs to which family) during trumps first term. And some still have not been matched to their families. He is an atrocious beast who has NO empathy and NO civility in him at all.
Roberts created this fiasco. Anyone could have predicted when SCOTUS allowed justice to be slow walked and trials delayed Trump would evade the many criminal charges levied against him, and if he won back the presidency, he would try to make the courts irrelevant. Why couldn't the justices see that coming? I know at least two of them are bought off, but Roberts and Coney-Barrett should have stepped in with the three liberal judges and stopped this fool from regaining power. What happens next? He tries to use the military? I think that’s when he gets stopped in his tracks. We could see a coup in America if the military holds firm to its oath to preserve and protect.
In the meantime, many people that I see on a regular basis are "sick and tired of politics". They want to ignore the situation and act as if it is business as usual. Bring it up and they turn away and avoid you.
I’ve noticed that as well in smart, normal people, generally well informed, both acquaintances and friends. I think it’s a coping mechanism. What’s happening is horrible on so many level and it’s overwhelming. Some people protect themselves by saying “ there’s nothing I can do to change it so I’m putting my head in the sand”. I disagree, it will take every SINGLE one of us. But I understand it.
I hope that one of the judges engaged in these vile deportation/arrest cases will order ICE agents to (1) unmask; (2) carry visible identification; (3) produce badges; (4) wear identifiable uniforms (blue jeans are out...); and (5) produce warrants.
I'm not well versed in US law so I don't know whether the requisite requirements already exist and are simply being ignored. If so, the courts could declare any arrest/detention where requirements are not being met as invalid on legal or constitutional grounds. Alternatively, Congress could pass legislation specifically pertaining to ICE (yeah, I know - as if...).
Thank you for this account, Ms. Rubin, which is both heartening (the courts) and frightening (our Nazi regime). May I suggest that there is no "perhaps" on what Roberts needs to do to reassert the rule of law in a nation he and his supine justices threw to the criminal candidate for the presidency by giving him immunity from the law.
Wouldn’t it be possible for Congress to reverse the immunity decision by passing a bipartisan bill to annul this ridiculous decision by the court? I think it just might pass.
I just heard an MSNBC anchor say that no one can stop Trump from accepting the jet from Katar. I don’t understand why Congress can’t stop this completely illegal action. This is made absolutely clear in the Constitution that a President cannot accept such a gift without the approval of Congress. Who thinks this is a foregone conclusion?
The Democrats will sue the Trump Administration. Surely this travesty will be included. It is many steps too far!
Congress has no authority to reverse a Supreme Court decision except by passing a law. You need to look at the make-up of Congress presently: both the Senate and the House have a majority of Republicans. They have shown no interest in stopping drumpf. They won't pass laws to make every citizen--president or peasant-- accountable for criminal actions, nor will they invoke the Emoluments clause of the Constitution against drumpf and plane grift.
Of course I understand the makeup of Congress. But somehow I think there might be a point where Trump goes too far for even the Republican cowards to stomach. They might agree to announce that they do not approve this gift. They should do it to bring this part of our Constitution into public consciousness, since many folks appear to have had little exposure to it.
If Congress can swallow Stephen Miller's assertion that the executive can suspend habeas corpus, the greatest legal protection a citizen has against governmental persecution, it can swallow a plane or two.
Roberts needs to put the smackdown on these gestapo tactics on American citizens.
C’mon man. Do your job. Uphold the law! Protect Americans!
First and foremost, Stephen Miller hates himself. He is a deeply disturbed little man who should have received psychiatric attention a long time ago. He may have been abused as a child, bullied in school. rejected by the opposite sex, not admitted to the college of his choice, failed in sports, not lived up to his academic or other ambitions (or all or a combination of the above), and is not able to deal with his own demons. What makes him even more vile is that he's Jewish, so he should be acutely aware of the evil impacts of discrimination, racism, etc. Anyway.
Agree 100%. Add to that "insufficiently Aryan-looking to meet his own expectations of being a member of the Master Race" - truly a mini-Hitler (whose failure to get into art school spelled doom for millions).
Someone called him PeeWee German and it’s nearly perfect, isn’t it?
PS: I read a while back that the source of his animus toward immigrants was being bullied in high school. Doesn’t excuse his vicious xenophobia, but it possibly explains it.
love that peewee german
Most of the Nazi hierarchy certainly did not look like any imaginary “Master Race.” Quite the opposite.
It was obvious that Hitler was most certainly NOT an Aryan dreamboat.
Or he is one of those identified and described by Alfred Moneypenny: there are people who just want to see the world burn.
For a gripping portrait of this evil "person," read Hate Monger by award-winning investigative journalist, Jean Guerrero.
Ha!! -- frankly I think Hell with Freeze over before he acts as he should! I mean he allowed the immunity judgment
I hope it becomes increasingly more difficult for this extreme court to turn a blind eye to what is happening right now. Unprecedented in our time. I agree with you, the crooked court opened the floodgates with their immunity ruling. Now they have to tiptoe with their own ruling in place as felon 47 continues to openly and defiantly break the rule of law.
Can an organization or the people make an appeal to SCOTUS to reverse the immunity ruling? Or what are the options?
I'm not optimistic. It would be nice if he had an epiphany, and decided to do the right thing for Constitution and Country, but I just can't see it happening. I would love to be proven wrong.
I heard an interesting talk on npr. It said in times of turmoil, pessimists faired better because they were realistic about what is, and acted accordingly. Just a thought. :)
I hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
Same here. I attribute it to old age in my case.
I think the only thing that would fix where we are is a compleate meltdown of america...trumpos will only get it when everything is broken by their guy...affecting THEM and meemaw
I feel they really did honestly think he would help them. Sad really, they were drowning people. Drowning in their racism,fear of immigrants, and desperation caused by income inequality.
he held up a life preserver at all rallys promising to save them. when the election was over, he put the life preserver on the dock turned around and walked away...he never threw it to them....
Agreed. The message needs to be sent, loudly and clearly, peacefully yet forcefully, to Roberts: if you don't, We the People, will. The same to Miller, if he doesn't stand down, and I mean, Now.
The UK got rid of Liz Truss in short order for her disastrous policies. South Korea removed its president when he overreached his authority. 45-47 needs to be removed for an endless list of crimes, but his enablers in Congress are too chicken to do it.
Knowing what we do from this administration it behooves us as voters to choose our congress people much more wisely. If they are running for an office. Put a camera in their face and ask them if they plan on keeping their oath of office if they get elected. I would make them forfeit the time and expense for impeachment if they don’t
Getting rid of him quickly is a dream that could turn into a real nightmare. The US, unlike the UK, has no provision for an election following removal from office. Our constitutional succession plan specifies the Vice President, then the Speaker of the House. Who are both younger and probably healthier than the current resident of the office. Does anyone want that result?
I agree on the risk, but remember Watergate. I'm convinced Nixon chose Agnew in part because of the unspoken message: if you think *I'm* bad...When his VP resigned, several bricks came tumbling down.
Vance ain't resigning, though. And Johnson is as bad as Vance.
In the foreseeable future, no, I agree. But I hope my point is clear. We don't know who is going to do what, or when. Our desired, and indeed, needed outcome won't happen the same way it happened back then. I just plan on continuing to be one drummer in the steady, growing, louder drumbeat that will remove bricks in the wall faster than they can replace them.
I absolutely understand your point. The regimes of 45-47 have revealed the flaws in our system. I don’t think the founders thought someone as horrible as 45-47 would be elected to the presidency, nor did they think Congress would hand over its power to the executive branch. Hope of good character in elected representatives is a flimsy foundation for a country.
Being too chicken to do it is definitely a factor. But there is also self-interest. The power of corporate money and the economic vision of the Heritage Foundation which, among other terrible things, reduces the U.S. to a piggy bank for industry and the master class, has been a driving force in this country. Republicans, and some Democrats, benefit and are beholden to it to various degrees. Citizen’s United is a public and legal face of it. Until out of control capitalism and corporate power on a global basis is reined in we ( the U.S.and the world in general) will be fighting this same battle, electing these same greedy people, forever. I am not advocating for socialism in its true meaning ( state ownership of production), but whittled-down capitalism and increased social benefit for people.
OK, just something that hit me looking at the designation 45-47. Does that mean he's a -2?
Why yes, he is.
My wife and I watched "Judgement at Nuremberg" this weekend for the first time and found it stunningly relevant to today. The film shows how a great German legal mind succumbed to loyalty to the state and how the judiciary became complicit in implementing Nazi atrocities. Brilliantly acted and directed, it's a gripping story and recommended viewing, especially now.
My Mom made me watch that movie as part of her "campaign" to ensure that I would never fall for the lies that she and her family succumbed to under the Nazis. It worked - my legal practice during my career included human rights and atrocity crimes. https://canuck21.substack.com/p/they-lied-to-us
Back in the 70ies in Germany, that film was part of history lessons (and history was taught to everybody). I have just watched it again yesterday, and yes, the parallels are stunning.
How can they uphold the law if the enforcers are captured by the DOJ?
Roberts and the other Christian Nationalists on the Supreme Court brought all of the Felon's lawlessness onto the American people when they gave the Felon immunity.
"Perhaps Roberts will need to be more specific when admonishing Trump and his thugs."
To say the least. How about "grow a pair of balls, drop the far-right ideology for a while, and start aggressively fighting back against the anti-democratic forces for which he himself and the court he nominally heads have cleared the way for so long"?
This discussion quickly became about the prez (again), and to some extent it was probably necessary. But this was focused on Miller v. Roberts, who are both big 'bricks' in the wall that this regime is trying to build. As for Roberts, everyone has limits to their patience, though I admit his doing the right thing is a long shot - he's too slick to just come out and admit error, and too shrewd not to toss an occasional bone to the rule of law.
Miller is another case altogether. Trump thrives on attention (one reason I refer to him by name as little as possible). Miller, on the other hand, thrives on *lack* of attention. When his phone number was publicized briefly during the first "administration", I swear I could almost hear his footsteps as he ran for cover - and of course, changed his number. That's why I'm hoping some hacker figures out how to track him down and leak his contact info to the four winds.
It's impossible to predict anybody's next move with certainty, friend or foe, but if the harsh, focused light of prolonged attention shines in his face long enough, I wouldn't bet against him saying or doing something so stupid, so inept, and so corrupt that even the Dump would be forced to dump him.
One more brick in the wall gone...or two, three, four, five? Six? Something to consider...
I’m sounding the alarm on a different subject bc I’m not sure where to post etc. the media has once again relegated this critical closing to the unimportant news cycle.
The NASA personnel in NYC were informed their jobs were being terminated and their building lease canceled as of May 30! No more research, no more pertinent weather patterns will be coming out of a 100+ office to keep us safe. These folks do climate research to help us see the dangers of weather patterns etc. their research is vital to our lives. Sound the alarm please!
Just in time for the June 1st start of hurricane season. I guess we will have to depend on President Trump & his handy sharpie to show us the path of the storm. Meanwhile, let’s dismantle FEMA.
NASA, or NOAA?
NASA. my friend is a climate physicist for over 50 years, researching, studying and working to control global climate conditions and alert folks to what is going on now.
Yes, terrifying. Insult upon insult upon insult ...
In every picture of him I have ever seen, Steven Miller strikes me as the very image of a Golem. He is a heartless, thuggish brute.
His own family publicly disavowed him in the first tRump regime. Unfortunately, awful people can appear in the best of families... RFK jr, anyone?
absolutely. I also think of him as Voldemort.
I go to the monsters of childhood horror movies: I think of him as Nosferatu.
Very apt.
And underneath all the meanness, weak!
This began with Lewis Powell’s secret memorandum. Then Roberts gutted the Voting Rights Act. Then Roberts and Scalia approved bribery through Citizens United. Then Roberts created the fiction of presidential immunity.
Now Roberts is in a significant bind.
Thank you John Roberts for enabling the dismemberment of our Republic - dear leader won’t forget what you did FOR him. He will expect MORE from you.
Could these marked "ICE" thugs actually be members of the Proud Boys???? Why the masks - and why the brutality????
Wouldn't that be something? Masked as they are, who knows? They could well be.
I would be willing to bet that a significant percentage of the "Proud Boys" and the "3 percenters" and the other militia groups consisted of people who wear badges when they don't wear masks.
So, here's a paragraph from this article that I propose really needed a concluding editorial remark like the one enclosed in square brackets :
So it is a good thing then, as Chief Justice John Roberts reiterated last week, that the “Judiciary is a coequal branch of government, separate from the others with the authority to interpret the Constitution as law, and strike down, obviously, acts of Congress or acts of the president.” It is the courts’ job, Roberts pointed out, to “check the excesses of Congress or the executive.” There are plenty of executive excesses these days. Given Miller’s attempt to intimidate the courts, perhaps Roberts was wise to stress: “Judicial independence is crucial.” [Of course, these remarks are both laughable and ironic because Roberts is almost entirely responsible for the situation in which a Chief Justice has to make such remarks. He can't have it both ways: admonishing the current regime and being the founder of the current regime.]
He gives a criminal president absolute immunity and is disappointed and dismayed when the criminal tries to transform it into absolute power? Does Roberts actually have a brain?
For crying OUT LOUD, just reverse the immunity decision!!!
Exactly!
A case has to be brought before the court where the application of the immunity decision is relevant. I do not think that has occurred yet. Then the court could possibly make a new ruling that could impact the extent of the earlier ruling.
With this Supreme Court configuration, is there any chance that a case like this brought before them would result in any new ruling? It's hard to imagine.
But as those nominated by trump stated during their "confirmation hearings" = they totally believe in precedent. Yeah right. Lied all through those hearings. And don't get me started on the viciousness of Kavanagh the way he talked back to Kobluchor (sp ?) during his hearing. What a horrid way for a potential Supreme Court justice to act!!
Why does Stephen Miller hate immigrants so much? His hatred of immigrants is visceral. Sociopathic. He is a sad, bitter little man, with far too much power.
First and foremost, Stephen Miller hates himself. He is a deeply disturbed little man who should have received psychiatric attention a long time ago. He may have been abused as a child, bullied in school. rejected by the opposite sex, not admitted to the college of his choice, failed in sports, not lived up to his academic or other ambitions (or all or a combination of the above), and is not able to deal with his own demons. What makes him even more vile is that he's Jewish, so he should be acutely aware of the evil impacts of discrimination, racism, etc. Anyway.
I had a friend who was admitted to the bar to practice in a couple of different Federal District Courts. The oath my friend had to take included something to the effect that they would not present an argument that was completely without merit and that was not even arguably valid.
I wonder when Federal Judges will refer the Government lawyers who present such absurd, baseless argument to the Disciplinary Committee of the relevant Bar Associations? Perhaps the threat of having their law license suspended or revoked might prompt those Trump Toadies to re-consider presenting arguments that are objectively ridiculous.
Would someone PLEASE explain that the president cannot accept the plane from Qatar. Every outlet I read says it is an ethics or legal issue. Would you please talk about the Constitution and foreign emoluments, and the President is again violating his oath of office.
The question of emoluments came up in the first Trump reign and after a lot of dithering no one actually called him on it. Why would we think it would be different this time?
Not true. CREW filed multiple lawsuits along these lines. Unfortunately due to constant delays they reached the Supreme Court only after the Trump presidency and thus were dismissed. I have been wondering if they can be revived in conjunction with new ones.
Sorry, I didn't mean to say no one objected or filed lawsuits to attempt to stop it. But, as you note, the SCt dismissed. It was inaccurate and maybe misleading to summarize the whole mess as "dithering". And, in fact, if "dithering" implies unknowing-ness, that's really inaccurate. I believe the SCt knew exactly what it was doing, and did it intentionally.
Just like it delayed ruling on the immunity issue until it was too late to convict him on the other 60 criminal acts.
tRump's present from Qatar. Not a seatbelt in sight. One can only hope that it goes into a roll at 45,000 feet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sRpW5cwn_0
Stephen Miller is a moron, but any moron who tells Trump what he wants to hear is automatically elevated to an esteemed legal scholar. Let us hope that the Supreme Court does not defer to his brand of wisdom.
Stephen Miller didn't apply nor was admitted to law school, did not attend and did not earn a JD, never sat for the bar and is ABSOLUTELY NOT a lawyer or legal scholar. His degree is in political science.
Doesn't that count a lot with Trump, given that it enables him to give legal advice unencumbered by the actual laws?
Trump himself is a risible, lumbering old fool, visibly sinking into dementia, , more absurd with every passing day. He is dangerous because he is a reckless, vindictive little man and because the Court's reactionary majority has had the criminally poor judgment to have given him almost absolute power.
Stephen Miller and Russ Vought--who, it becomes more and more clear, are the powers behind this stinking throne--are a different story.
They are madmen too, fanatics, driven by foul obsessions: but they're neither reckless nor risible nor impaired. They are quite determined to transform this country into an authoritarian police state in which a handful of Republicans govern through terror.
They don't represent the broader Republican retreat from the reforms of the last hundred years: if that was all the Republicans were up to ,it would be relatively benign.
They represent a kind of Khmer Rouge fanaticism--a detailed, obsessive, determined will to create a new society through repression and mass terror. There is nothing in Miller's conduct, or Vought's, to reassure one. Both men are, I believe, capable of ordering bloody state violence, up to and including mass murder, to achieve their repulsive goal.
I will NEVER get it out of my system how evil that demon miller is. HE is the one responsible for the separation of children (without ANY way of tracing who belongs to which family) during trumps first term. And some still have not been matched to their families. He is an atrocious beast who has NO empathy and NO civility in him at all.
Agreed!!
Roberts created this fiasco. Anyone could have predicted when SCOTUS allowed justice to be slow walked and trials delayed Trump would evade the many criminal charges levied against him, and if he won back the presidency, he would try to make the courts irrelevant. Why couldn't the justices see that coming? I know at least two of them are bought off, but Roberts and Coney-Barrett should have stepped in with the three liberal judges and stopped this fool from regaining power. What happens next? He tries to use the military? I think that’s when he gets stopped in his tracks. We could see a coup in America if the military holds firm to its oath to preserve and protect.
In the meantime, many people that I see on a regular basis are "sick and tired of politics". They want to ignore the situation and act as if it is business as usual. Bring it up and they turn away and avoid you.
Find new friends quick.
I’ve noticed that as well in smart, normal people, generally well informed, both acquaintances and friends. I think it’s a coping mechanism. What’s happening is horrible on so many level and it’s overwhelming. Some people protect themselves by saying “ there’s nothing I can do to change it so I’m putting my head in the sand”. I disagree, it will take every SINGLE one of us. But I understand it.
I hope that one of the judges engaged in these vile deportation/arrest cases will order ICE agents to (1) unmask; (2) carry visible identification; (3) produce badges; (4) wear identifiable uniforms (blue jeans are out...); and (5) produce warrants.
an important thought--now what body can make this order take place? and can we all somehow support that?
I'm not well versed in US law so I don't know whether the requisite requirements already exist and are simply being ignored. If so, the courts could declare any arrest/detention where requirements are not being met as invalid on legal or constitutional grounds. Alternatively, Congress could pass legislation specifically pertaining to ICE (yeah, I know - as if...).
Like they'd comply anyway....
Probably not, but the lawlessness should be appropriately documented *NOW* so that in a future administration offenders can be brought to justice.
Thank you for this account, Ms. Rubin, which is both heartening (the courts) and frightening (our Nazi regime). May I suggest that there is no "perhaps" on what Roberts needs to do to reassert the rule of law in a nation he and his supine justices threw to the criminal candidate for the presidency by giving him immunity from the law.
Wouldn’t it be possible for Congress to reverse the immunity decision by passing a bipartisan bill to annul this ridiculous decision by the court? I think it just might pass.
I just heard an MSNBC anchor say that no one can stop Trump from accepting the jet from Katar. I don’t understand why Congress can’t stop this completely illegal action. This is made absolutely clear in the Constitution that a President cannot accept such a gift without the approval of Congress. Who thinks this is a foregone conclusion?
The Democrats will sue the Trump Administration. Surely this travesty will be included. It is many steps too far!
Congress has no authority to reverse a Supreme Court decision except by passing a law. You need to look at the make-up of Congress presently: both the Senate and the House have a majority of Republicans. They have shown no interest in stopping drumpf. They won't pass laws to make every citizen--president or peasant-- accountable for criminal actions, nor will they invoke the Emoluments clause of the Constitution against drumpf and plane grift.
Of course I understand the makeup of Congress. But somehow I think there might be a point where Trump goes too far for even the Republican cowards to stomach. They might agree to announce that they do not approve this gift. They should do it to bring this part of our Constitution into public consciousness, since many folks appear to have had little exposure to it.
If Congress can swallow Stephen Miller's assertion that the executive can suspend habeas corpus, the greatest legal protection a citizen has against governmental persecution, it can swallow a plane or two.
Hah! Good point. But my theory is that the cumulative effect should eventually cause sufficient malaise to prompt an explosive reaction.
Thugs is the right word. I can’t imagine a more unattractive human than Stephen Miller. No, not even you-know-who.
he really is evil incarnate.