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Bill Alstrom (MA/Maine/MA)'s avatar

I tore this off the latest Today's Edition by Robert Hubbell:

"Today, I recommend Lucian K. Truscott IV’s article on Substack, This Supreme Court has broken my heart. Truscott writes, in part:

Which raises the obvious question: why did they agree to take the Trump appeal in the first place?

The answer to that question is the reason my heart is broken. This Supreme Court has shown itself again and again to be disinterested in the facts and the law and has reached the point that it now bluntly says so.

The idea that the Constitution not only established a democracy but provided protections for it in the clear language of its text is less important to Roberts and his court than what outcomes they can fashion for the anti-democratic masters that put them there.

I also recommend this excellent article in Rolling Stone, Team Trump Is Celebrating the Supreme Court Immunity Case, Win or Lose. Rolling Stone discusses the fact that Trump's defense team did not expect the Supreme Court to grant review of the case but were overjoyed when it did:

But the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority, which Trump built as president, came through for him in a way that many Trump advisers didn’t believe was probable. When news broke in late February that the court would take up Trump’s claims of vast immunity, Trumpland was so elated that a lawyer close to Trump told Rolling Stone they were “literally popping champagne.”

From Trump's perspective, it does not matter whether he wins big or small. The deed is done—thanks to the reactionary majority’s willingness to entertain review of a preposterous claim. Rolling Stone quotes one Trump adviser as follows:

“We already pulled off the heist,” says a source close to Trump, noting it doesn’t matter to them what the Supreme Court decides now.

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Dave Conant - MO's avatar

Good one Bill. The common herding technique is nipping at the heels of those who stray. My Aussie practiced on my daughter as she was learning to walk but was also fiercely protective of her and never actually touched skin.

If Judge Merchan wants to keep the failed insurrectionist in line, maximum fines of $1000 per occurrence and 30 days in jail, all suspended pending completion of the trial might work. We know that fear is a motivator for the former president, no reason not to use it.

I retain some small hope that a majority of the Court will make the patently correct decision that there is no immunity under the Constitution or the law and allow Judge Chutkan to proceed. That might also light a fire under Judge Cannon and get that case moving.

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