Happy Leap Day.
The date isn't the only reason today might feel surreal: It may also have something to do with the fact that the Supreme Court handed Trump a win yesterday, as my colleague Pema Levy reported. The court agreed to pause the federal criminal case over Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election, in order to have time to consider his claim that he is immune from prosecution for acts taken during his presidency.
This could have profound implications—including, for example, a president ordering SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political opponent and avoiding prosecution for it unless he were first impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate for that crime, as a Trump lawyer acknowledged during oral arguments before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. As Pema writes: "Trump’s theory of absolute immunity for former presidents is radical and dangerous, elevating the office of the president to a king-like status above the law."
Read Pema's piece to learn more—and remember that, as Mother Jones' editor-in-chief Clara Jeffery reminds us: "This country can survive a corrupt SCOTUS and a rising tide of bigotry, authoritarianism, and hate. But only if we fight like hell."
—Julianne McShane
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.