Special counsel Jack Smith is dropping the federal election subversion and the mishandling of classified documents cases against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking the cases’ dismissal in court filings Monday.
Key detail: they’re not dropping it because they’re giving up, the judge dismissed it without prejudice, which means that in 4 years they can pick the case back up. Under a Trump DoJ the case would likely have ended with prejudice, closing it permanently.
1a. How: The law. Literally Trump “can’t” just say “I’m going to run again”. The constitution forbids it. Now I’m not saying that will stop all the states from putting him on the ballot, but it will stop many, and that’s enough to get any sane Republican screaming for an alternative.
1b. Why: The law. Republicans know perfectly well Trump is a shit-show, but they lacked the courage to say no to a 2nd term. A third term puts them into not-needing-a-spine-to-say-no territory. Many desperately want to get rid of him and that is their safe opportunity.
2. Of course I do. I also remember the attempted coup failed miserably. And anyway that is quite different from running in the primary.
It is. It’s in the constitution and barring civil war and a military take over of the government that amendment is not going away.
But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that Trump can seemingly do whatever the fuck he wants.
Actually he can’t. He most definitely can bloviate and spew whatever the fuck he wants, but when it comes to actually doing I think his track record is quite poor. For the most part he counts on toadies to fall in line and do his bidding, mainly so they can take the blame if it goes south. That he will be term limited is, IMO, the saving grace for those useful idiots - they know they can get rid of him and they only need to kiss his ass another 4 years.
More than likely he’d just go the direction of Russia/Putin and run behind a candidate he endorses but then effectively take control after the puppet candidate wins.
You are speculating that SCOTUS will let some challenge slide. But it’s the constitution and SCOTUS doesn’t get to change what it says just because they are corrupt.
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”
Laws are not magic spells, and all the people who enforce them are his creatures.
Demonstrably not.
Just because we use the same rules for our violently enforced traditions of hierarchy and the physical constants of reality does not mean they’re actually the same thing.
You are either 14 and very profound or a newly-minted graduate student. 'Cause I have no idea what you are trying to say.
SCOTUS has the final say on what the Constitution should mean right now. They can decide however they want. The only remedies are through the legislature (impeachment, constitutional amendments, increasing the size of the court). But if they decide something, that’s the law of the land even if it’s blatantly wrong.
SCOTUS has the final say on what the Constitution should mean right now. They can decide however they want.
Not entirely. There are actually limits and checks on SCOTUS power, including the restrictions on what cases they can hear, the ability of congress to change the make up of the court and terms of appointments as well as change it’s jurisdiction.
Now I grant it’s easy to throw up one’s hands and say “ah but that will never happen with a congress bowing and scraping to Trump” but I’d counter with two points: we can still gain majorities in the senate and house in 2026 and, crucially, if there’s one thing you can count on it’s the avaricious and rapacious nature of politicians.
I fully expect our entire country to slide into a deep recession and for there to be complete paralyzing chaos in the federal government over the next 4 years. That threatens the status quo, meaning congress critters ability to freely grift, make money off the stock market and remain in power. They won’t like that.
SCOTUS has already started ignoring things like standing. I mentioned that the main check on SCOTUS is the legislature. I don’t think Congress can get its shit together long enough to effect any real check. Last term they could barely elect a speaker and this term they have even slimmer majorities. Unless the midterms are a historically large blue wave, it’s not going to matter. If a handful of defectors can kill the change, it’s not happening.
Key detail: they’re not dropping it because they’re giving up, the judge dismissed it without prejudice, which means that in 4 years they can pick the case back up. Under a Trump DoJ the case would likely have ended with prejudice, closing it permanently.
Even more motivation for Trump to abolish term limits.
He can’t himself since it’s spelled out in the constitution in the 22nd amendment.
So tl;dr it would need 3/4 of the states to repeal that. More detail than that, but that’s what it boils down to.
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Yeah, they’ve all done a bang-up job over the last four years.
That’s a bit like saying because you found a hair in your soup - which you found bland and overpriced - that you want a shit sandwich instead.
I didn’t say I wanted the shit sandwich. I’m saying I don’t trust them to keep the shit sandwich away from my plate.
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1a. How: The law. Literally Trump “can’t” just say “I’m going to run again”. The constitution forbids it. Now I’m not saying that will stop all the states from putting him on the ballot, but it will stop many, and that’s enough to get any sane Republican screaming for an alternative. 1b. Why: The law. Republicans know perfectly well Trump is a shit-show, but they lacked the courage to say no to a 2nd term. A third term puts them into not-needing-a-spine-to-say-no territory. Many desperately want to get rid of him and that is their safe opportunity. 2. Of course I do. I also remember the attempted coup failed miserably. And anyway that is quite different from running in the primary.
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I really hope that’s the case. But if there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that Trump can seemingly do whatever the fuck he wants.
It is. It’s in the constitution and barring civil war and a military take over of the government that amendment is not going away.
Actually he can’t. He most definitely can bloviate and spew whatever the fuck he wants, but when it comes to actually doing I think his track record is quite poor. For the most part he counts on toadies to fall in line and do his bidding, mainly so they can take the blame if it goes south. That he will be term limited is, IMO, the saving grace for those useful idiots - they know they can get rid of him and they only need to kiss his ass another 4 years.
More than likely he’d just go the direction of Russia/Putin and run behind a candidate he endorses but then effectively take control after the puppet candidate wins.
Oh that? That meant consecutive terms. Trump can totally be president again in 2028. Just ask SCOTUS.
You are speculating that SCOTUS will let some challenge slide. But it’s the constitution and SCOTUS doesn’t get to change what it says just because they are corrupt.
“No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”
Seems pretty crystal clear.
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Demonstrably not.
You are either 14 and very profound or a newly-minted graduate student. 'Cause I have no idea what you are trying to say.
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Undergrad?
SCOTUS has the final say on what the Constitution should mean right now. They can decide however they want. The only remedies are through the legislature (impeachment, constitutional amendments, increasing the size of the court). But if they decide something, that’s the law of the land even if it’s blatantly wrong.
Not entirely. There are actually limits and checks on SCOTUS power, including the restrictions on what cases they can hear, the ability of congress to change the make up of the court and terms of appointments as well as change it’s jurisdiction.
Now I grant it’s easy to throw up one’s hands and say “ah but that will never happen with a congress bowing and scraping to Trump” but I’d counter with two points: we can still gain majorities in the senate and house in 2026 and, crucially, if there’s one thing you can count on it’s the avaricious and rapacious nature of politicians.
I fully expect our entire country to slide into a deep recession and for there to be complete paralyzing chaos in the federal government over the next 4 years. That threatens the status quo, meaning congress critters ability to freely grift, make money off the stock market and remain in power. They won’t like that.
SCOTUS has already started ignoring things like standing. I mentioned that the main check on SCOTUS is the legislature. I don’t think Congress can get its shit together long enough to effect any real check. Last term they could barely elect a speaker and this term they have even slimmer majorities. Unless the midterms are a historically large blue wave, it’s not going to matter. If a handful of defectors can kill the change, it’s not happening.
Well I guess we should just throw up our hands and declare defeat then.
A distinction without a difference