@lynn Thanks, Lynn -- I'm going to take a long break from the news and come up for air, lol!
I agree that this decision is a disaster, but there is one thing that everyone is forgetting about this ruling.
Basically, Trump isn't the President right now.
Biden is.
So technically, if Biden was handed evidence by the CIA or the FBI that Trump is engaged in corrupt acts with Putin and that he plans to hand Ukraine and Europe over to Russia, as well as prosecution hundreds of innocent people because he can, as well as systematically take away more women's rights because he can, could Trump be considered a "threat" to the nation and be taken out.
Remember, the Supreme Court never said that Trump couldn't do this. So by extension, if Biden wasn't so honorable, he could give the order and Trump would be gone.
How could they prosecute him? He is the President.
Also, why can't Biden shut down the Supreme Court? Wouldn't it be part of his official duties? He's the President.
Or what if Trump wins and Biden decides to stage his own January 6? He's the President, isn't he? How can one decide what actions are part of the presidency or not? That question is up in the air and open to interpretation. So if Biden does exactly what Trump did (and actually succeed), then how can the Supreme Court say what Trump does is legal but Biden does the same and it is illegal?
Personally, I am in a dark place. I am so tired of Trump and his allies winning all the time while we play by the rules and suffer regardless. Whatever is up there, be it God, the light, angels, or whatever, I feel it is utterly indifferent to our plight, and we are destined to suffer years of misery while our enemies flourish before finally fading away.
But I am so tired of it. Why must we still act uprightlightly while our bullies torment us? Are African Americans better people because they endured slavery, or are they better in spite of it. Personally, they should not have to suffer through it at all. And women, who have suffered through millenia for no other reason than because they are born women? It makes me sick.
It is times like this that I feel hopeless. As though the light is a lie or that God is not good and loving (because how can Trump continue to prosper and get away with things when we strive to do what is right only to be persecuted.) I am literally holding on by my fingernails right now praying for a sign from God telling me that evil won't win, but I feel he won't answer or, even worse, he is on Trump's side and we should just accept Trump.
I honestly don't want to go through another 4 years of Trump just to watch our country go down the tube and we say "we told you so." I want Trump gone now. I am tired of the anxiety he causes. I am tired of the way he bullies and humiliates others. I have lost faith in my neighbors and even in my faith.
I won't stop fighting. It's not in me to do that. But it feels like the Alamo where we know we are going to die fighting and we won't see a better world. If there is light, I don't think I will see it.
Sorry for my dark thoughts today. I just really need to say this to people who will sympathize, as I live in a red state and am constantly surrounded by Trumpers.
@allyn I am very much in the same place as you right now. I'm experiencing some other very pressing personal issues at the moment (my cat is seriously ill, I still haven't found work, I'm about to lose my health insurance, my credit card was compromised a few days ago so dealing with the fallout from that, and my mother (whom I live with) is a die-hard right-wing Catholic and fan of TFG who thinks that Mr. Biden is senile and has ruined the country). I'm trying to put my thoughts into coherent words, and I simply can't right now. My only consolation right now - and it's very thin - is the timeline drawing that @jeanne-mayell posted some time ago. I'm hoping this is the last big dip she's indicated in 2024, because I genuinely don't think i can take much more.
The thing is Joe Biden won't do any of the things this decision appears to permit a president to do. Only a republican president would. There is decency and restraint on the democratic side but none on the republican side.
I feel like the damn has broken and the right wing, both politicians and the court, no longer even care about a pretense of propriety or the appearance of restraint. They think they are close to wining it all, the Project 25 future they've been dreaming about since Reagan and probably cannot believe how lucky they are to be so close. It's terrifying to me. The only upside it that there is no need to pretend anymore, or to give SCOTUS or any right wing politician the benefit of the doubt. These people are not decent, they are not well-intentioned, they do not love this country, or democracy. They are fascists or enablers. We should not grant them the benefit of the doubt. They are who they appear to be.
I am not a lawyer, or even especially well-informed about the law, but I just read that the ruling doesn't mean that whatever the president wishes comes to pass, but rather that he or she can't be held liable for whatever they propose.
But even if we know, what is the point? Unless someone takes action, what can be done?
Vote? Republicans have engaged in gerrymandering and using the electoral college to their advantage. Heck, we voted in 2020 and 2022, and our votes are challenged as fraudulent. And this was after Biden won by more than 8 million votes.
Put ourselves above the fray? We have sympathized, tried to understand, tried to treat them as humans, and for what? Just to be bullied, harassed, marginalized, threatened, shot at, etc.
Play by the rules? Trump and the Republicans just break the rules.
What course of action is left? Violence? Why become like them? Surrender? I can't live with that. Pray that the other side regains their humanity? I have prayed for my enemies before, and it never works. Pray for divine intervention? Methinks that whoever is up there is indifferent to the plight of the oppressed, or simply moves so slowly that the oppressed often are broken or loose their spirit.
I'm at a loss. I only ask for a sign that soon our suffering will be over and we will be safe from Trump. But I lost faith that God is listening or even cares.
I'm just going to "pray" for interpersonal decency in day to day life.
My instinct is still that if we bicker with each other or get overly emotional, that is what was intended.
Unify, be decent, and do what needs to be done. We don't know everything that goes on behind the scenes.
@allyn I guess the point is that you can't fight the problem until you admit it exists. You can't fight an adversary until you admit they exist. SCOTUS is an adversary to democracy. There is no hiding it anymore. That is what they are.
Look, the forces of good did win in 2020, and in 2022, and in many of the special elections since, and in all of the pro-choice referenda held in many states. Pro-democratic forces and voters can and are winning. It's just that the fascists (and that's what they are, no use in calling them anything else) are strong and their webs of influence are vast, having been cultivated and put in place over decades, and now being fully activated.
Who will ultimately win? I don't know. I hope we do.
I feel as though change will come only when Democrats take the Executive and Legislative branches of government, since they will have a renewed mandate to change the structure of government, judiciary, and electoral process that is fair for everyone. For some (or much) of it, they would have to try to skirt around the Constitutional amendment process where there would otherwise be no hope of red state cooperation, but negotiating a fair and equitable solution with them might be possible. Several states have the referendum process - why not on a national level?
Our Federal Judiciary and legislature must be reformed to include term/age limits, that has become quite clear. The Electoral College must be reformed or eliminated altogether as fundamentally anti-democratic. Presidential and legislative powers must be sharply defined, especially after today’s SCOTUS ruling. These are a few of the things that stick out having lived the past eight years of in crumbling system. I always have hope and look to a more positive outcome, and there’s a guiding light on the side of righteousness. I would hope that everyone is focusing their energies on this theme, and I take great comfort in the positive thoughts and visions of those here who see these kinds of changes coming to fruition.
I feel as though change will come only when Democrats take the Executive and Legislative branches of government, since they will have a renewed mandate to change the structure of government, judiciary, and electoral process that is fair for everyone.
This ❤️
@allyn I feel you on that as I reside in Majorie Taylor Greene land... I keeping giving thanks for the Light... I believe with all my heart... this month and these "players in the game" are being brought out fully so that they are known.... all of them.... and then the disinfection of the Light will cleanse them out of office and governing...at any level. yes? I feel discouraged and disheartened.... so I give myself a break from all of the news.... focus on doing the kind and good things I can do in my area and speak the Truth every chance I get to all who will hear it. Every storm runs out of rain eventually.... all bleeding stops... eventually... we will come out of this.... eventually.
@allyn 100,000 times this! I'm shaken that the evil is so brazen and is so constantly and shamelessly rewarded! We're all in a dark place unfortunately but we're with you.
And yet, whatever happens between now and next year, and despite the Supreme Court essentially making the US a benign police state, I can't help but recall, "Be careful what you wish for, lest it come true." Does it make it any easier in the moment, no. The impacts, whatever they are, will be felt less by people here, and considerably more if you're in a red state, holding down a beach ball in a pool, eventually, tomorrow, next week, next year, next century, a few centuries from now, that beach ball is coming up. The harder it's held down, the longer it's held down, the higher it will go.
As an outsider looking in, to quote Churchill, if you're going through hell, keep going.
Oddly calm.
Now that the SC (in)Justices have made this ruling, what is to stop Biden from ordering the IRS to do a full audit of the Fascist 6. And the Donald. And Mitch McConnel? (can't forget him!).
And what is stopping him from expanding the Court, by executive order? Seems like they just gave him the green light!
I know Biden is not a mean man, but he could do a lot of good with his new powers. I'm not asking him to take Clearance Sale Thomas out to the shed and beat the black out of his... robe. But he could hold him down and let Anita Hill do it.*
*metaphorically, of course. For entertainment purposes only
What stops Biden from changing the Electoral College to the Popular vote NOW?
@tgraf66 Oh sweetie!! You truly have a lot on your plate to deal with at once!!!
I am sending prayers, Light and Love for you and Healing Energy for your precious kitteh 🙏🏻💜🪽💚🙌🐈⬛🙌💚🪽💜🙏🏻.
As far as Mom? Yeah... it's like living in MTG land... do not discuss ANY of it with them... "We'll just have to agree to disagree and I will not discuss that with you"
THANK GOD WE STILL HAVE KARMA!
If the Democrats take the presidency and Congress, they can pass new laws and expand the court. I'm holding out for that. What's happening now may even help Biden get re-elected - if he remains the candidate or even if he doesn't, then whoever is the candidate. My new motto:
VOTE BLUE NO MATTER WHO!
Blessings and Calm to all...
What's happening now may even help Biden get re-elected - if he remains the candidate or even if he doesn't, then whoever is the candidate.
That's what I'm manifesting from this ruling.
American voters need to understand the November 2024 election is literally a binary choice between democracy or dictatorship.
Perhaps it is all going down like this to stir up our hearts and make indifferent folks awaken. Every day we see corruption and injustice, but look closer. See our spirit, our goodness, our decency. The light is stronger than the dark. Joe Biden is a light bearer. Believe in him and his light.
Feel the founders, John Lewis, John McCain, RBG. They are with us. We are powerful. Even with the deck stacked against the light the dark will not win.
Hear the words of MLK. Read the poetry of Amanda Gormand. Cling to your loved ones, lift up the hopeless, lead the way for the lost.
WE The People will not bow to tyrants. This is our country too. It may seem hopeless now, but we will have a victory, many victories upcoming.
And to all who are feeling discouraged and anxious I see you and send my light and my love. You are not alone. Remember you are resilient and our country is too. Feed the light. Starve the darkness.
They want you to give up and despair. Don't. Don't let them take you down or lose focus. Shine your light no matter what happens.