'Murica! (287 Viewers)

GordoDeCentral

Diez
Moderator
Apr 14, 2005
70,777
Neither.

- - - Updated - - -


I was genuinely asking why these should be considered beneficial decisions for the public and why I would be overreacting. Feel free to give your reasoning if you'd like, I haven't heard it from anyone else.
The quid pro quo with the mayor one or the presidential immunity?

He's flat out wrong here.

Judges usually take decisions in complex matters that really can be defended in both ways. Otherwise you wouldn't be in court. As a lawyer, I genuinely never shoot at the judge. They make decisions I simply have to understand.

These last few Supreme Court decisions are not like that. If a judge outright decides he can be bought, you can no longer trust his judgment. If a judge says a president can do whatever he wants with impunity, you no longer live in a democracy.

Biden could go out right now and shoot every justice that decided this way and declare he had to do it for the good of the country and this Supreme Court would have granted him immunity. For a country that has a 2nd amendement to allow civilians to defend themselves against kings and tyrants, this is incomprehensible.

This is the end of the USA as we know it.

But hur dur dur, why should we care, liberals angry, funny, hur dur dur. Man, you all truly deserve what you're getting.

Both sides are all about gamesmanship. And both sides engage in hyperbole to drum up outrage. That's what i got from hustinis posts. And what a great distraction from bidens horrible debate showing ey.

Also you are smart enough to know things, especially in law are much more nuanced. Murdering scotus justices is not president official business. Presidents cant give executive orders violating the law, and the breadth of their powers is delineated in the Constitution. If there's a serious deviation they get impeached.

If anything, i see this decision more as a check on the power of govt to go after presidents it doesn't like. Every single past US president could potentially be criminally liable for either not doing enough or doing too much. Decisions at that large scale will always carry a degree of collateral cost.

Finally, this ruling also left the door open for lower courts to interpret official vs unofficial business. So, Trump is not really immune from prosecution after all.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,314
The quid pro quo with the mayor one or the presidential immunity?




Both sides are all about gamesmanship. And both sides engage in hyperbole to drum up outrage. That's what i got from hustinis posts. And what a great distraction from bidens horrible debate showing ey.

Also you are smart enough to know things, especially in law are much more nuanced. Murdering scotus justices is not president official business. Presidents cant give executive orders violating the law, and the breadth of their powers is delineated in the Constitution. If there's a serious deviation they get impeached.

If anything, i see this decision more as a check on the power of govt to go after presidents it doesn't like. Every single past US president could potentially be criminally liable for either not doing enough or doing too much. Decisions at that large scale will always carry a degree of collateral cost.

Finally, this ruling also left the door open for lower courts to interpret official vs unofficial business. So, Trump is not really immune from prosecution after all.

Read Sotomayor's dissent. And note the words she's using. It is not normal for a dissenting justice to say she fears for the American democracy. This is someone who has built decades on choosing every word extremely carefully.

What you are saying makes sense of course. But only if the Supreme Court had bothered to define 'official act'. They haven't. And we both know why. They want to see how the elections pan out. If Trump is elected and the case comes before the Supreme Court once again, they'll decide that whatever he did was in fact official.

But I do want to point out these paragraphs from the majority decision:

"The indictment broadly alleges that Trump and his coconspirators sought to “overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.” App. 183, Indictment ¶7. It charges that they conspired to obstruct the January 6 congressional proceeding at which electoral votes are counted and certified, and the winner of the election is certified as President-elect. Id., at 181–185, ¶¶4, 7, 9. As part of this conspiracy, Trump and his co-conspirators allegedly attempted to leverage the Justice Department’s power and authority to convince certain States to replace their legitimate electors with Trump’s fraudulent slates of electors."

...

" The indictment’s allegations that the requested investigations were “sham” or proposed for an improper purpose do not divest the President of exclusive authority over the investigative and prosecutorial functions of the Justice Department and its officials. App. 186–187, Indictment ¶10(c). And the President cannot be prosecuted for conduct within his exclusive constitutional authority. Trump is therefore absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials. ".

So while the Supreme Court has not decided everything, they have already decided that a president can influence the election results in his favour by using the justice department.

You also failed to address the fact that the Supreme Court is now open to bribery. You cannot trust their judgment after that.

So no, I don't think it's hyperbole.
 
Last edited:

GordoDeCentral

Diez
Moderator
Apr 14, 2005
70,777
Read Sotomayor's dissent.

What you are saying makes sense of course. But only if the Supreme Court had bothered to define 'official act'. They haven't. And we both know why. They want to see how the elections pan out. If Trump is elected and the case comes before the Supreme Court once again, they'll decide that whatever he did was in fact official.

But I do want to point out these paragraphs from the majority decision:

"The indictment broadly alleges that Trump and his coconspirators sought to “overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.” App. 183, Indictment ¶7. It charges that they conspired to obstruct the January 6 congressional proceeding at which electoral votes are counted and certified, and the winner of the election is certified as President-elect. Id., at 181–185, ¶¶4, 7, 9. As part of this conspiracy, Trump and his co-conspirators allegedly attempted to leverage the Justice Department’s power and authority to convince certain States to replace their legitimate electors with Trump’s fraudulent slates of electors."

...

" The indictment’s allegations that the requested investigations were “sham” or proposed for an improper purpose do not divest the President of exclusive authority over the investigative and prosecutorial functions of the Justice Department and its officials. App. 186–187, Indictment ¶10(c). And the President cannot be prosecuted for conduct within his exclusive constitutional authority. Trump is therefore absolutely immune from prosecution for the alleged conduct involving his discussions with Justice Department officials. ".

So while the Supreme Court has not decided everything, they have already decided that a president can influence the election results in his favour by using the justice department.

You also failed to address the fact that the Supreme Court is now open to bribery. You cannot trust their judgment after that.
Bro i don't read anything a woman writes :D much less from as big, pun intended, an idiot as sotomayor.

I personally thought weaponizing the justice dept to go after Trump was much more egregious and would have a terrible domino effect, gee what a surprise.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,314
Bro i don't read anything a woman writes :D much less from as big, pun intended, an idiot as sotomayor.

I personally thought weaponizing the justice dept to go after Trump was much more egregious and would have a terrible domino effect, gee what a surprise.
Yeah, we're done here lol.

But just for laughs, here's what another female justice wrote in her dissent: "The majority of my colleagues seems to have put their trust in our Court’s ability to prevent Presidents from becoming Kings through case-by-case application of the indeterminate standards of their new Presidential accountability paradigm. I fear that they are wrong.".
 
Last edited:

Bjerknes

"Top Economist"
Mar 16, 2004
115,914
I'm definitely no lawyer and I hated my one elective law class I had to take, but you don't need a law degree to understand both parties always use the "law" to their advantage. It's just particularly scary at this point considering Republicans always say they're the party of freedom, yet at the same time constantly attack the rights of everyone who isn't white, male, and Christian. And it's just getting worse.

That's why at every opportunity people should use their first amendment rights and say fuck you and your stupid fake "god".
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,314
I'm definitely no lawyer and I hated my one elective law class I had to take, but you don't need a law degree to understand both parties always use the "law" to their advantage. It's just particularly scary at this point considering Republicans always say they're the party of freedom, yet at the same time constantly attack the rights of everyone who isn't white, male, and Christian. And it's just getting worse.

That's why at every opportunity people should use their first amendment rights and say fuck you and your stupid fake "god".

I get that.

But I don't think I can stress enough that what the Supreme Court decided is nothing like that. Everyone is always trying to twist the law in his or her favour. But there are basic principles no one is touching in a democracy. Some of those are:

- You cannot bribe judges. Judges have to be independent.

- No one is above the law, everyone should be held accountable for their crimes.

The Supreme Court has decided against these principles recently. I genuinely cannot think of another democracy that has chosen to move away from this. I guess maybe in Bolivia or something it's possible to bribe a judge. In practice. But there is no other democracy on Earth that actually allows it, it's always banned in theory at least.
 

ALC

Ohaulick
Oct 28, 2010
46,524
before they used to do bribery under the table. Now they can do it in the open and face no consequences.

- - - Updated - - -

Brb, gonna try to be a judge
 

IliveForJuve

Burn this club
Jan 17, 2011
18,923
I get that.

But I don't think I can stress enough that what the Supreme Court decided is nothing like that. Everyone is always trying to twist the law in his or her favour. But there are basic principles no one is touching in a democracy. Some of those are:

- You cannot bribe judges. Judges have to be independent.

- No one is above the law, everyone should be held accountable for their crimes.

The Supreme Court has decided against these principles recently. I genuinely cannot think of another democracy that has chosen to move away from this. I guess maybe in Bolivia or something it's possible to bribe a judge. In practice. But there is no other democracy on Earth that actually allows it, it's always banned in theory at least.
It's not just possible, it's necessary. Even if you're in the right, you have to bribe the judge because the other party will surely be offering them money. Gotta pay to get the correct ruling :baus:
 

IliveForJuve

Burn this club
Jan 17, 2011
18,923
But I'm willing to bet even Bolivia has not codified that into law yet.
Oh yes, sorry. I didn't read that properly.

- - - Updated - - -

Bro i don't read anything a woman writes :D much less from as big, pun intended, an idiot as sotomayor.

I personally thought weaponizing the justice dept to go after Trump was much more egregious and would have a terrible domino effect, gee what a surprise.
But you do read stuff written by people who believe in imaginary beings :andyandbarcelona:

- - - Updated - - -

No one has mentioned this yet, but this is the absolutely pinnacle of bullshit. The Supreme Court essentially made bribery legal. The vote was along party lines, everyday there's something new in this country that affirms that the Republican party is dead to me. I don't care how you feel about Biden, decisions like this make Trump's Presidency the worst possible outcome for the longterm viability of the nation.

https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-public-corruption-bribery-89774f1e3cd6f1a353718b7ce3ff18a0
You're turning into Venezuela without the hot chicks.
 
Last edited:

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,314
You're turning into Venezuela without the hot chicks.
I can already imagine the disbelief on my children's faces in a few years (when they're old enough to understand) when I tell them that I used to spend holidays in the US.

"There was a time you could go to the USA?"
 
Last edited:

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,749
Honestly, with every single piece of news, it just seems like we are setting ourselves up for a dictatorship, which is what the retards here truly want. The hardcore Trumpsters want it, the non-Israel ANTIFA folks want it.

If I didn’t know any better, it’s as if the powers that be want to throw us into utter chaos and eventual civil war.
I came the realization only several years ago that some 20% at any given time prefer an authoritarian dictatorship. A lot of people can't handle complexity or a causal belief system that diffuses the source of that causality away from single individuals. Like people stuck in the "See Spot. See Spot run. See Spot run fast." comprehension of global forces and events.

So what you get is self-infantilization. Auto-gaslighting. People revert to the womb and seek Daddy figures to be the big strong man and make all their problems go away.

The most frightening part of that is the will to believe. A kind of Stockholm Syndrome, a lot of people convince themselves that their Daddy looks out for them and prevents all bad things. To the extent that their neighborhoods could be flooded and their house on fire, but "That's ok because Daddy will take care of me." They can't even see it with their own eyes.

"But our fearless leader has the support of Jesus so we are on the right road to salvation."

That 20% gets much higher when the world seems to have bigger, badder forces that are harder to comprehend.

Crazy.

But Trump said this was a great day for democracy. Essentially this is all that matters now.
And to my point above, Trump honestly couldn't give a crap about democracy. Democracy is for suckers and losers. It's just another belief system he will pose with, like the Trump bible, because he knows there are simps who are into that stuff and he feeds it to them.

Trump has always been about Trump and his own self-glorification, and nothing else. He has a pathological deep need for approval, given how badly his father destroyed his stable ego.

I get that.

But I don't think I can stress enough that what the Supreme Court decided is nothing like that. Everyone is always trying to twist the law in his or her favour. But there are basic principles no one is touching in a democracy. Some of those are:

- You cannot bribe judges. Judges have to be independent.

- No one is above the law, everyone should be held accountable for their crimes.

The Supreme Court has decided against these principles recently. I genuinely cannot think of another democracy that has chosen to move away from this. I guess maybe in Bolivia or something it's possible to bribe a judge. In practice. But there is no other democracy on Earth that actually allows it, it's always banned in theory at least.
Checks and balances are eroding away. First it was the corporations who acquired personhood, bought politicians, and hijacked the interpretation of the First Amendment. But now the political class is enabling it as well.

In 2020 the U.S. barely escaped a Machiavellian coup because a few people held steadfast and did the right thing while a coup leader got in his own way. A Putin-level conniver in office in the future would have a field day in the U.S. And recent SCOTUS rulings like this one since are just paving the White House lawn for the T-72 tanks.

The funniest part of this for me was that it came from an age-appropriate Facebook page.
 

icemaη

Rab's Husband - The Regista
Moderator
Aug 27, 2008
36,319
I came the realization only several years ago that some 20% at any given time prefer an authoritarian dictatorship. A lot of people can't handle complexity or a causal belief system that diffuses the source of that causality away from single individuals. Like people stuck in the "See Spot. See Spot run. See Spot run fast." comprehension of global forces and events.

So what you get is self-infantilization. Auto-gaslighting. People revert to the womb and seek Daddy figures to be the big strong man and make all their problems go away.

The most frightening part of that is the will to believe. A kind of Stockholm Syndrome, a lot of people convince themselves that their Daddy looks out for them and prevents all bad things. To the extent that their neighborhoods could be flooded and their house on fire, but "That's ok because Daddy will take care of me." They can't even see it with their own eyes.

"But our fearless leader has the support of Jesus so we are on the right road to salvation."

That 20% gets much higher when the world seems to have bigger, badder forces that are harder to comprehend.

Crazy.



And to my point above, Trump honestly couldn't give a crap about democracy. Democracy is for suckers and losers. It's just another belief system he will pose with, like the Trump bible, because he knows there are simps who are into that stuff and he feeds it to them.

Trump has always been about Trump and his own self-glorification, and nothing else. He has a pathological deep need for approval, given how badly his father destroyed his stable ego.



Checks and balances are eroding away. First it was the corporations who acquired personhood, bought politicians, and hijacked the interpretation of the First Amendment. But now the political class is enabling it as well.

In 2020 the U.S. barely escaped a Machiavellian coup because a few people held steadfast and did the right thing while a coup leader got in his own way. A Putin-level conniver in office in the future would have a field day in the U.S. And recent SCOTUS rulings like this one since are just paving the White House lawn for the T-72 tanks.



The funniest part of this for me was that it came from an age-appropriate Facebook page.
As an outsider, it's amusing to see these kind of events happening in the US. Until I realise it's just a matter of time before the concepts are exported to other western nations. In India, Modi basically wrote and ran the playbook for this. Only when the Supreme court justices grew a spine earlier this year did we see some pushback (on the electoral bonds issue) which ultimately did have an effect on the results. It was our pay for play case. Took years for the judgement, but it did come. It also helps that while the Chief Justices are nominated, they are the cream of crop most of the time. But Modi did manage to ruin every other check and balance, including the election commission. There was a time when I firmly believed none of that shit would happen to the US. But I was clearly wrong.
 

swag

L'autista
Administrator
Sep 23, 2003
84,749
As an outsider, it's amusing to see these kind of events happening in the US. Until I realise it's just a matter of time before the concepts are exported to other western nations. In India, Modi basically wrote and ran the playbook for this. Only when the Supreme court justices grew a spine earlier this year did we see some pushback (on the electoral bonds issue) which ultimately did have an effect on the results. It was our pay for play case. Took years for the judgement, but it did come. It also helps that while the Chief Justices are nominated, they are the cream of crop most of the time. But Modi did manage to ruin every other check and balance, including the election commission. There was a time when I firmly believed none of that shit would happen to the US. But I was clearly wrong.
These are different times. I don’t know if it’s late stage capitalism, late stage America, or what.

But when Modi was elected I was like, “Oh, this can’t be good.” in very much the same way.

I’m actually a little surprised but pleased that somehow self-defense mechanisms kicked in within India to put the brakes on the growing unilateralism. I don’t know if there was enough disparagement of non-Hindus to creep enough people out, or if there were even a few BJP insiders who were conflicted about what would happen to the nation without pushback. Or both.

Glad it came. But you saw Jan 6. These are different times in the U.S. The unthinkable is now very plausible as institutions accelerate their decline.
 

Kopanja

Senior Member
Jul 30, 2015
5,591
This is grim. It seems like a significant portion of the US population is dead set on destroying the world the US built and mangling the country itself. I still don't get what the upside is for them.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,314
I was looking for a trip to New York, but the enthusiasm is kind of gone at this point.

I'd say I'm more positive than most. I think the more outrageous decisions from the Supreme Court will either be reversed or finetuned. The vast majority of the American people do not want a king and want to live in a stable democracy. It's the same as with abortion, in the end federal laws will be made or grow stronger, because it is impossible to stop the majority in the long run.

But yeah, couple of difficult years ahead probably.

Verstuurd vanaf mijn ONEPLUS A6003 met Tapatalk
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 21, Guests: 259)