Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Trump’s Assassination Fantasy Has a Darker Purpose

 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/trump-biden-assassination-fbi/678476/

Trump has a way of projecting his own vices onto others. His view of presidential power is absolute—to the point that his lawyer recently argued before the Supreme Court that ordering the military to assassinate a political rival “could well be an official act.” There is probably some limiting principle to this particular argument, but the fact that the issue is even under discussion is not a good sign for our democracy. Perhaps he believes that Biden was out to shoot him because he thinks that’s an order that presidents can freely give.

5 comments:

  1. 1. SCOTUS, particularly the conservatives, have long been critsised as favoring vague rulings. 2. As noted in the oral arguments, there is virtually no precedent here (the little precedent is actually pro-Trump). 3. President Obama ordered assassinations and nobody had a problem with it because the justice department was assumed to be neutral and would therefore understand. Now that the Dems have successfully weaponized the justice department, it is necessary to enshrined the immunity of the commander in chief. 4. Nothing really changed because the president has the power of pardon anyways. 5. Everyone under him in the Chain of command is not immune.

    I hope this clarifies things for the fear mongers and willful ignorants.

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    Replies
    1. Obama ordered assassinations as retribution of political enemies?!

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    2. Of course not (to our knowledge). But, for one second, consider the alternative. Point is, say a right wing justice department decides to prosecute him just because they can. What's stopping them? Meaning, Obama did the correct action, but can still be prosecuted should the justice department decide (the gov said this explicitly in the oral arguements). This is much worse option.

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  2. Any way thr recent comments can be scrolled further, as I lose the trail once my previous comment is down the list ?

    ReplyDelete

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