Reason #6 to Vote Blue on Nov 5
Today (July 11, 2024), Judge Merchan was going to sentence Donald Trump for the 34 felonies on which a jury convicted him, involving falsification of business records that Trump did to hide his unseemly visit with porn star Stormy Daniels, which may have impacted voters in 2020.*
But the sentencing has been postponed due to the 6-3 US Supreme Court decision on Trump’s immunity appeal that stalled his prosecution for his January 6 participation. Six right-wing SCOTUS partisans say: Trump cannot be prosecuted for actions that were within his constitutional powers as president. They threw out a lower court’s decision that had rejected Trump’s claim of immunity from federal criminal charges involving Jan-6.
I am not using the expression “partisan” lightly. Yes, these partisans threw out the long-standing Roe v. Wade case. Yes, Justice Thomas wants to revoke the Obergefell v. Hodges decision that settled the gay marriage issue. Yes, they vote consistently favoring the wealthy elite as was evidenced by another decision this month that blasted away at regulatory agencies. BUT, until now, the conservative Court has hid behind the ridiculous so-called legal principle of originalism (interpret the Constitution based on what we think the original writers meant).
But the immunity appeal decision was the opposite of originalism. Everything the founders did and said was meant to balance the powers of the branches of the government and to avoid any semblance of a monarchy. Giving the President more or less unlimited immunity, making the President above the law, is the opposite of what the Founders wanted.
This is how we know that the cloak of “originalism” is as phony as the “Emperor’s New Clothes” story. We can see through that invisible cloak and see partisan elite stooges who do not care about legal precedent or law and order. Trump (and GOP leaders) made this happen.**
Resources:
* List of 34 felonies: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/30/g-s1-1848/trump-hush-money-trial-34-counts
** ‘SCOTUS should reconsider’ contraception, same-sex marriage rulings: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256
