SCOTUS: Presidents have a LOT of immunity
In the case of Trump v The United States, the Supreme Court -- aiming for a ruling that would stand the test of time and not simply be about "the current exigencies" -- gave a significant win to the office of the president and to Donald Trump.
The ruling is not particularly surprising, nor is the fact that the three liberal justices dissented. Here's the key takeaway:
Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority. And he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts. There is no immunity for unofficial acts.
Again, the justices are going out of their way to make this look like it's about much bigger questions than just Donald J Trump (and they're right):
This case poses a question of lasting significance: When may a former President be prosecuted for official acts taken during his Presidency? In answering that question, unlike the political branches and the public at large, the Court cannot afford to fixate exclusively, or even primarily, on present exigencies. Enduring separation of powers principles guide our decision in this case. The President enjoys no immunity for his unofficial acts, and not everything the President does is official. The President is not above the law. But under our system of separated powers, the President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts. That immunity applies equally to all occupants of the Oval Office.
A key part of the practical impact of the case is that while the court named certain parts of the charges against Trump as immediately invalid (such as conversations he had with the Dept of Justice about the election), other things, such as his behavior on January 6th, require a finding of a court about whether they are "official" acts and therefore subject to immunity, or not. The Supreme Court did not take up those questions directly though they noted, probably to Trump's chagrin, that acts taking purely as a candidate for office or purely related to electoral politics (without an overlap to a true function of the presidency) are likely not official acts.
They leave plenty of gray area in between obviously official and obviously unofficial and basically their answer for that is "this is what we have courts for. So, lower courts, go do your jobs."
Just One Thing: Debate reverberations
The reverberations after Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance continue despite his better, albeit very angry, showing on Friday in a rally in North Carolina, a rather odd location in a likely Trump state. On Sunday morning, the top two Biden headlines on Politico.com were “Ex-DNC vice chair says Biden must be pushed to drop out” and “Delaware Senator Chris Coons says Biden is the only Dem who can beat Trump.” Right now, Joe Biden is trading just under 60% to be the Democratic nominee. I think that’s much too low. He won’t get out unless his wife, DOCTOR Jill Biden, thinks it’s a good idea and simply see no indication that her own personal ambition and hatred of Donald Trump would permit that.
Bari Weiss: They Knew | The Free Press (thefp.com)
2024 Presidential Predictions | 2024 Democratic Nominee? (predictit.org)
One thing that many folks are wondering is whether Biden really just had an insanely off-night or whether his shills in the media have been covering for him for months, to the nation's detriment. My take is that it's 10% the former and 90% the latter. In other words, even for a guy who gets confused, the debate performance was incredibly bad...but it was a matter of quantity not quality because we have all seen that confused old man before. Mostly I think "journalists" just hate Trump so much that they've lied repeatedly and shamelessly covering up for Biden's increasing frailty.
I'd add that using a teleprompter for just a few minutes of remarks at a fundraiser doesn't inspire confidence:
Team Biden knows people are talking about his getting out (which I still think won't happen) so they included this remarkable graphic in a fund-raising email. I think the numbers re Trump vs some other Dem would change if some other Dem were actually the candidate and got more name recognition (except maybe for Kamala Harris...who would be the hardest one to skip over.) Still, as the Free Press put it, "The extraordinary thing about this is not that it shows Biden outperforming various untested Democrats, but that Biden’s team decided to include it in a fundraising email at all."
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One More Thing: What if everything you think you know about Matthew Shephard's death is wrong?
This is some really remarkable reporting: What If the Most Notorious Murder of a Gay Man Wasn’t a Hate Crime? | The Free Press (thefp.com)
You can listen to Bari Weiss' interview of the article's author here: The Story of Matthew Shepard’s Murder Changed America. But It Wasn't True. | The Free Press (thefp.com)
Today's Guests
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is a political analyst from the Gaza Strip and non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. He wrote a remarkable piece a couple of weeks ago for The Free Press: Israel Killed 31 of My Family Members in Gaza. The Pro-Palestine Movement Isn’t Helping. | The Free Press (thefp.com)
Follow him on Twitter: https://x.com/afalkhatib?lang=en
Jeremy Fey is mayor of Central City, Colorado. It's a gambling town but it doesn't have the revenue that you might expect, just up the hill from the large and bright casino town of Blackhawk. Jeremy wants to bring a little more entertainment to town by allowing strippers in certain establishments. It's causing some controversy.
Strippers in Central City? Mayor's plan causes uproar | denvergazette.com
It's been a subject of debate for years: Central City: Strip club operator makes deal to open steakhouse, casino (denverpost.com)
Other Stuff
Focus on the evidence, not your bias. And the evidence, for Biden, is bad: Biden Age Concerns Have Been Apparent to the World. Democrats Ignored the Warnings. - WSJ
France is on the precipice, but of what? French parties rush to build anti-far right front | Reuters
If there is any weapons trafficking in the world that the US must do everything possible to stop, it’s the acquisition by Mexican drug cartels of advanced weaponry: Mexican cartels boast of increased firepower, including US weapons (usatoday.com)
New Colorado laws that take effect today: 10 new Colorado laws that kick in July 1 - Axios Denver (I hadn't heard of the last one...)
This is a rather crazy story:Juan Orlando Hernández, Former President of Honduras, Sentenced to 45 Years in Prison for Conspiring to Distribute More Than 400 Tons of Cocaine and Related Firearms Offenses | United States Department of Justice
See, they can fight when they want to: Ultra-Orthodox protest against order to enlist in Israeli military | AP News
Interesting cultural tradition…and the WWII story is remarkable: Philippine villagers smear mud on their bodies to show devotion to St. John the Baptist | AP News
If Biden really does lose even a modest percentage of black, Hispanic, and Jewish voters, it’s very hard to see how he can win the election. How Black Voters Become Swing Voters - WSJ
Offered without comment: I Hung Out With a Humanoid Robot to See What the Hype Is About - Business Insider
More Hamas tunnels still being found. This one may have access into/through a UN-run school and is about 1/3 of a mile long: IDF destroys Hamas tunnel in Rafah near UNRWA school - The Jerusalem Post (jpost.com)
I wish Arapahoe County were more “cowboy” overall, in the sense of self-reliance rather than the pro-big gov’t place it’s become. That sort of western libertarian spirit was part of what brought me to Colorado but it’s incredibly difficult to find along the I-25 corridor where most of the state’s population is. Colorado sheriff's office allows deputies to wear cowboy hats -- 1st time in decades | FOX31 Denver (kdvr.com)
Whaddya think of this new piece of the surveillance state? FedEx’s Secretive Police Force Is Helping Cops Build An AI Car Surveillance Network (forbes.com)
How your FedEx driver is helping cops spy on YOU | Daily Mail Online
Don't go woke, sell $1 billion of movie tickets: ‘Inside Out 2’ Becomes Quickest Animated Film To Gross $1 Billion (forbes.com)
Inside Out 2 - Worth It or Woke - BASED Movie Reviews
Did INSIDE OUT 2 Go Woke? | Did INSIDE OUT 2 Go Woke? (movieguide.org)
“Academic verbal diarrhoea”: Dolly Parton scheme giving children free books attacked as 'white saviourism' (telegraph.co.uk)
Today's Video
What I'd remind you as you watch this important little piece of history with a very important lesson about American politics is that with the possible (it used to be probably but less so these days) exception of the Libertarian Party candidate, nobody running for president of the United States understands this. Nobody.
I've never seen a turtle do this...and I do love the name she gives him at the end