On Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that American presidents have “absolute immunity” from prosecution for any “official acts” they take while in office. For President Joe Biden, this should be great news. Suddenly a host of previously unthinkable options have opened up to him: He could dispatch Seal Team 6 to Mar-A-Lago with orders to neutralize the “primary threat to freedom and democracy” in the United States. He could issue an edict that all digital or physical evidence of his debate performance last week be destroyed. Or he could just use this chilling partisan decision, the latest 6-3 ruling in a term that was characterized by a staggering number of them, as an opportunity to finally embrace the movement to reform the Supreme Court.

But Biden is not planning to do any of that. Shortly after the Supreme Court delivered its decision in Trump v. The United States, the Biden campaign held a press call with surrogates, including Harry Dunn, a Capitol police officer who was on duty the day Trump supporters stormed the building on Jan. 6; Reps. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas); and deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks.

Their message was simple: It’s terrifying to contemplate what Donald Trump might do with these powers if he’s reelected.

“We have to do everything in our power to stop him,” Fulks said.

Everything, that is, except take material action to rein in the increasingly lawless and openly right-wing Supreme Court.

  • @WraithGear
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    4 days ago

    So after the debate i kinda think the election is already doomed. But let’s pretend it’s not. We are looking at four possible out comes. 1. Biden wins by doing nothing, he may or may not attempt to abuse this new power, either way the hostile Supreme Court will have an emergency session and rule against Biden, preventing him from using it. The trap has been laid. 2. Trump wins with Biden doing nothing. Trump uses official action to do everything he swears he would do including military retaliation against his rivals, showing Isreal how to do a real genocide, ect. The trap has sprung. 3. Trump wins because Biden abused these powers and attacked the Supreme Court before they could declare it a non official action. The powers are stripped from the president, we have terrible 4 years, only mitigated by the restriction on presidential powers. The trap misfires. 4. Biden wins even after abusing official actions to attack the hostile Supreme Court, then replacing the justices. We have another 4 Biden years filled with Fox News screeching how he is a dictator. The trap is disarmed.