All Things Trump: the story continues...

[Tero]

Guardian:

Aside from a single question from Jackson, there was no discussion of Trump’s conduct on 6 January 2021 and whether it constituted an insurrection. Instead, nearly all of the justices suggested that a state could not disqualify Trump from the ballot absent some action from Congress.

A decision upholding the Colorado supreme court’s ruling would not automatically remove Trump from the ballot across the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... 4-election

I think Guardian is wrong. The Supreme Court are deciding if Trump is on the ballot or not. If they side with Colorado, at least a dozen states will remove him. The court also cannot decide for those states, once they have decided for Colorado (instead of Colorado's court decideing). If the court does not decide this, they are not doing their job. They can't just refuse to decide.

[Sean Hayden]

The judge doesn’t understand how a state can have the power to decide who can run for president. Isn’t her next thought to question how only a political party, and then only a handful within just two of those, can decide! —it’s too much

Yes. Republicans would succeed at removing Democrats in their states, provided you allow all claims of wrong doing to carry the same weight. But we should be able to agree on behavior that warrants removal and then apply that consistently, in fact, that’s literally their job.

Maybe they’re just feeling insecure. Maybe what they’re really saying is the law’s got no teeth…

[rasetsu]

Guardian:

Aside from a single question from Jackson, there was no discussion of Trump’s conduct on 6 January 2021 and whether it constituted an insurrection. Instead, nearly all of the justices suggested that a state could not disqualify Trump from the ballot absent some action from Congress.

A decision upholding the Colorado supreme court’s ruling would not automatically remove Trump from the ballot across the country.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... 4-election

I think Guardian is wrong. The Supreme Court are deciding if Trump is on the ballot or not. If they side with Colorado, at least a dozen states will remove him. The court also cannot decide for those states, once they have decided for Colorado (instead of Colorado's court decideing). If the court does not decide this, they are not doing their job. They can't just refuse to decide.

Oh? Can't they?

[Tero]

The job is to decide the eligibility of Trump. Colorado did their part. They even had all the court documents properly done. Now the job is with the Supreme Court. Not congress, not the voters.

[Tero]

the 14th amendment is a powerful tool. Elsewhere:

The 14th Amendment gives congress the power to enforce the 14th Amendment without the Courts, that means by simple Majority vote congress can declare any officer Uneligible via a vote in Congress without an Impeachment. The 14th Amendment was written after the Impeachment clauses, so it supercedes them.

Congress is, however, so partisan, it can't really function the way they thought in 1868.

[Sean Hayden]

It’s crazy how powerful Trump is. What can anyone do? The Republicans are unwilling to risk anything. I guess we can just hope that losing again has some impact on his authority.

[Tero]

NYT

Another major issue involves Jan. 6: Did it count as an insurrection, and did Trump take part in it?

Murray argued that the answer to both questions was yes. Jonathan Mitchell, Trump’s lawyer, countered that the events of Jan. 6 were “shameful, criminal, violent” — but not an insurrection. Mitchell defined an insurrection as “an organized, concerted effort to overthrow the government” with violence.

Some justices seemed open to that interpretation. Justice Brett Kavanaugh noted that there was a federal statute making it a crime to incite an insurrection — and that Trump has not been charged with it. Still, yesterday’s argument did not dwell on the issue, suggesting that the ruling may focus on other questions.

[Tero]

chrislhayes
14h
I’m making my way through the Hur report (on Biden documenst) and am I understanding correctly that the vast majority of the classified documents are his *own notes* ?

Me:
Too bad. We could have seen "presiddnt pardons himself" in real life. But then the Supreme Court blocks it. Then Trump becomes president. And he cannot pardon himself. Goes to jail.

[Tero]

Trump slurring speech many times in PA speech
https://www.threads.net/@bidenharrishq/post/C3JXys4PIUo

[JimC]

And he hasn't even got my excuse - too many gin and tonics!

[Tero]

Court likely to decide in weeks, not months. They ignored the textual stuff, scared of consequences of a ban.

The justices seemed united in apprehension for the practical consequences of removing a candidate from the ballot and revealed a concern for the politics of the day, which the chief justice often says they eschew.

Addressing lawyer Jason Murray, representing the Colorado voters who began the case, he said, “Counsel, what do you do with what would seem to me to be plain consequences of your position? If Colorado’s position is upheld, surely there will be disqualification proceedings on the other side. And some of those will succeed.
Some justices, including Brett Kavanaugh, appeared to agree particularly that Congress, not individual states, should control such disqualification for a national office.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan separately told Murray, “I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.”

Some justices, including Brett Kavanaugh, appeared to agree particularly that Congress, not individual states, should control such disqualification for a national office.

Liberal Justice Elena Kagan separately told Murray, “I think that the question that you have to confront is why a single state should decide who gets to be president of the United States.”

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/09/politics ... index.html

[Tero]

Trump babbles
https://www.threads.net/@groguspeaknyc/post/C3Kq60cOFW2

he will have the DOJ investigate every distict attorney appointed by democrats
shooting shop lifters
eleectric military tanks
strangling newborns with doctor
showerheads and toilets: water saving sillyness
windmills and whales

[Tero]

He has the best geography!

Former President Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden after the president mistakenly called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi the president of Mexico at a news conference on Thursday.

Trump posted a map on Truth Social on Friday that labels Egypt as Mexico with the words, "Source: Joe Biden." He also posted the clip where Biden calls el-Sisi the president of Mexico.

[Tero]

He will need a budget. A billion should do it:
WAYNE ALLYN ROOT: You're gonna need to deport tens of millions, it seems like

TRUMP: Yeah

ROOT: You might have to deport 20 or 30 million. Can you do that?

TRUMP: We have to get them out

[Tero]

Some wise ass wrote the brief:
Trump was never convicted of this therefore he is still eligible. Colorado’s ruling is overturned.
Yours very truly,
John G. Roberts, Jr. Chief Justice of the United States and the other eight.

The trouble with that is that a bunch of people after the civil war were pardoned. I think it was a law. So there would not be a trial. But they were nevertheless Civil War insurrectionists and could never serve.