It was a “no-brainer” that the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) would rule that a president has absolute immunity from prosecution for “actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority,” and also has “presumptive immunity” for all official acts in general — but not for unofficial acts. (READ MORE from Dov Fischer: Dr. Jill Biden: Perfect Wife Amid the Panic of 2024)
C’mon, what was the question? Was there ever any serious doubt on this one? It was so simple that even Joe Biden, who graduated 76th in his law school class of 85, would be able to figure it out if he still were able to figure anything out. Nevertheless, Dr. Jill Biden can explain it all to him anyway: “Joe, the Supreme Court was asked to decide on a few questions about presidential immunity — and they answered every single question!”
But really. If an American president holds up a bank (as opposed to the Social Security Trust Fund or the national treasury), brandishing a pistol, yells “Let’s Go Brandish!,” while wearing a mask (whether a white Fauci N95 or an appropriately colored ivy “River to the Sea, Let’s Burn Down Our College” mask), and passes a note to the teller saying “Give me all your cash or I’ll shoot and kill you,” and then actually shoots and kills her, he is going to face the death penalty if he murdered in Texas or will be warned by District Attorney Alvin Bragg that he better not do it again if in New York. No way can a president imagine in a million years that the Supreme Court would allow him to claim “presidential immunity” after robbing a bank and killing the teller, or if raping a 12-year-old girl (or a mother of five, or a college co-ed) as if he were an illegal immigrant from El Salvador or Venezuela.
On the other hand, if he makes a terribly foolish mistake and launches a war in Iraq that ends a beautiful decade of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein and Iranian mullahs and ayatollahs sending hundreds of thousands to kill each other, or if he exits Afghanistan with such incompetence that 13 brave American heroes die unnecessarily, he certainly can expect political payback and maybe even impeachment, but he should not face personal criminal liability for murder. Presidents must make grave decisions on issues of life and death. Obama presided when Navy Seals whacked Osama. President Trump oversaw the eliminations of Qassem Soleimani and Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. How can he be expected to face civil lawsuits, needing to defend himself in court for military-related tragedies if sued by the survivors? Even if the military kills the wrong Arab terrorist, in a case of mistaken keffiyeh, how can a president conceivably be expected to face civil liability?
Likewise, if a president makes cynical taxing and spending decisions aimed at boosting his electoral standings with voters too foolish to realize they are voting against themselves, or if he acts to defund the National Guard, or makes otherwise costly and foolish decisions, the answer must be to vote him out or impeach and perhaps convict him, but not civil liability.
Immunity was and is a “no-brainer.” Even if a president is an idiot — and we have had and continue to have our share of those — he must know assuredly that the law protects his decisions when made in the conclusive and preclusive context of his constitutional authority. We cannot have our presidents hemming and hawing out of fear that, if their decision is proven to be impolitic, they might go to prison. That would be Banana Republic stuff. They won’t be able to lead. They will be afraid to lead on anything, bringing about perilous paralysis even worse than we now have. Imagine if Lincoln had, hanging over his head, the possibility he could be locked up if civil charges were brought against him for going to war against the South after Fort Sumter or for suspending habeas corpus. Or that the survivors of 600,000 Civil War dead could have sued him in civil court. For acts like those, if ultimately judged ultra vires, the public’s sane and constitutional remedy is voting him out of office or demanding their representatives impeach him.
It is that simple.
Of course, Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) now are screaming and threatening to overthrow the Supreme Court. Ironically, Schumer himself could have been arrested when he threatened the Supreme Court justices that they would reap and be destroyed by the whirlwind. Imagine if Ocasio could be sued in thousands of civil lawsuits brought by people in her district for costing them countless millions of lost personal income by driving Amazon out of her district when they wanted to bring in lucrative jobs that were going to pay enormously more than her constituents were earning and now are stuck with.
They are phonies and the reason I sometimes hate politics even though I love so much about following it. The dishonesty and cynicism sometimes are just too much for a person who endeavors to live his life devoted to the truth. If the shoe were on the other foot, with a Clinton or Obama facing prosecution, and if a majority of Democrat-appointed Obama judges now had ruled to let them off the hook, the same Ocasio and Schumer would be praising the Court’s wise decision. Instead, they are threatening impeachment — they who opposed impeaching Mayorkas for lying under oath and knowingly breaking the laws of our land.
It is because of the Schumers and Ocasios that our Founding Fathers made Supreme Court justices and all federal judges lifetime appointments so that no amount of threats of whirlwinds and impeachments could deter them from executing their constitutional duties. The Ocasios and Schumers are so despicably dishonest and phony. But it is pleasing to watch them griping, grumbling, whining, and squawking. Wait till SCOTUS overturns the Marchan-Bragg-Stormy farce. Buy your earplugs now.
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