General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsNothing more or less than -does the president have absolute power- is about to be decided
by Heather Cox Richardson
Today the president tweeted a lot, even for him. In one hour this morning, he tweeted or retweeted 52 times. By the end of the day he had averaged a tweet every 7.5 minutes. None of the tweets mentioned the almost 80,000 Americans who have died from Covid-19, or any plans for addressing the pandemic.
Trump appears to be upset about the recent prominence of former President Barack Obama in the news. On Friday, a tape of Obama talking to about 3000 former staffers leaked. In it, Obama expressed dismay over the decision of the Justice Department to try to drop the case against former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn. He warned that our basic understanding of the rule of law is at risk, and noted that once a nation abandons the rule of law the destruction of its legal government is often rapid. He also called Trumps response to the coronavirus pandemic an absolute chaotic disaster. Since leaks from Obama officials are scarcer than hens teeth, we have to assume this leak was deliberate.
Trumps morning tweetstorm makes the president seem preoccupied with Obama. He seems tied to the idea that the FBI was investigating the links of some of the people on his campaign to Russia, a situation he called OBAMAGATE! on Twitter this morning. He retweeted the claim by conservative talk show host Buck Sexton that Obama used his last weeks in office to target incoming officials and sabotage the new administration. Trump added to the tweet The biggest political crime in American history, by far! He retweeted an account that, at the time, had 43 followers, saying, Unless people are indited [sic] and put in prison the corruption will continue. People will continue to run with fake news and conspiracies until they are shown individuals being handcuffed and prosecuted. Its [sic] also time to fire people from the FBI, CIA, DOJ, DNI #CleanHouse.
Trumps power struggle against any oversight of his presidency is approaching a critical moment. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether Congress or state prosecutors can investigate him for potential wrongdoing. There are three different cases, which involve two issues.
Lots more:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-10-2020?utm_campaig
Squinch
(50,901 posts)"Is the Supreme Court still an enforcer of the Constitution, or have the Republicans corrupted it so badly that we no longer have a government that can be considered representative in any way?"
rampartc
(5,382 posts)Brett Kavanaugh, Neil Gorsuch, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Samuel Alito
this decision could be as disasterous as dred scott or plessy vs ferguson
3Hotdogs
(12,319 posts)rampartc
(5,382 posts)thomas is listed as a member.
i wonder how the original intent could possibly have been an unchecked, unbalanced, "unitary executive. "
Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)BSdetect
(8,994 posts)FakeNoose
(32,544 posts)Why don't they just do it?
dustyscamp
(2,223 posts)kentuck
(111,049 posts)...before she gets real serious about it.
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)Biden is the odds on favorite to win next November.
beachbumbob
(9,263 posts)filibuster in the Senate which I think the new Democratic Senate Majority will most likely HAVE to. IF democrats win 10 senate seats in Nov, they will have to decide to kill the fillibuster as GOP will ALLOW NOTHING to pass the senate or even get a vote
MoonRiver
(36,926 posts)I know it's controversial here, but Biden also needs to add a few more seats to SCOTUS. I think it's more than justified after what the evil turtle did to Merrick Garland.
Takket
(21,525 posts)To put this in perspective the Mueller investigation took about two years and spawned these congressional investigations that have now been in the courts for over a year. By lying, ignoring subpoenas, constantly suing and stalling, drumpf will essentially have run out the clock on his malfeasance by dragging out the investigations over his ENTIRE four year administration.
It is LUNACY that our system functions this way.
But cest la vie, here we are. These cases were intended to be heard in late March and decided in June before Covid. Now maybe we will get an answer in late July or August. Then we blow it up just before the election? Assuming SCOTUS rules in our favor, which is certainly not guaranteed.