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The gyrations of Trump's mind are forcing our judicial system to consider points of constitutional law we never imagined we would have to reexamine. We never expended massive mental energy to answer legal questions about unconstitutional power and corruption because we never imagined that any American would make it to the Presidency while harboring un-American (fascist) values. We never imagined that so many Americans would not understand how Trump's values are so out-of-line with our democratic values, or how his values would challenge the design of our republic. We assumed that no Americans wanted a king with absolute control over the kingdom.
The Heritage Foundation, on the other hand, has spent plenty of time and energy asking and answering questions that Trump's behaviors have raised. They have been working with conservative groups that are all-in and, surprisingly, oriented on the same goals - now tied to getting Trump elected as our next President so he can distract us all while conservatives accomplish all the tasks on their ultra-conservative to-do lists. How is it that a party that complains incessantly about America's deficits loves to cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans, taxes which could help close the deficit gap? Rather than cut taxes for the wealthy, conservatives want to cut benefits for Americans experiencing issues arising from poverty, illness, aging, homelessness, and unemployment. Conservatives want to cut those essential services so they can cut taxes for those who have the most to give back, and the most reasons to be grateful.
There is that Project 2025 document which will bend our federal government to Trump's will by filling as many government jobs and positions as possible with Trump loyalists (and extreme Republicans/conservatives). Picture our entire government run by clones of Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jim Jordon. Since so many jobs in Washington are filled with citizens who have qualified through Civil Service exams, you might think that is fake news. You might be thinking that they can't do that. Think again.
Conservatives/Republicans have already blasted through so many of the guardrails built into our democracy/republic, you can easily imagine that they have or will have found a way to bypass the Civil Service by the time Trump occupies the Oval Office once again. During Trump's last reign the administration "created a new excepted service schedule known as "Schedule F" which directed agencies to move potentially large swathes of career employees into this new excepted service status. This attempt would have stripped career civil servants of their civil service protections that ensure that decisions to hire and fire are based on merit, not political considerations. The Office of Personnel Management is already taking steps to prevent this from happening" (which an authoritarian state could easily overturn, legally or not.)
If you happened to watch this week when the Supremes gave oral arguments about Presidential immunity, you saw how far the right has moved to get our federal government ready to welcome Trump back. Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas are not subtle about their biases. They did not quote past laws or court decisions. Trump's defending lawyer mentioned Marbury v Madison (gave us “judicial review”) and invoked the name Nixon v Fitzgerald (established that a president has absolute immunity from damages liability predicated on his official acts) loudly and often. However, immunity from damages liability is not quite the question being asked at this time. The hypotheticals should have elicited resounding "no" votes from the conservative Supremes. That didn't happen. They could see that a president might have to assassinate someone or have the military assassinate someone and still be immune from legal jeopardy. The president, they seemed to agree, might even be required for undisclosed reasons to stage a coup, and might require immunity.
"Can a President order a political rival's assassination and avoid criminal prosecution? What if he sold nuclear secrets to a foreign adversary or staged a coup? (Time Magazine Supreme Court Wrestles With Implications of Granting Trump Immunity.)
Even the most unconstitutional or violent scenarios did not sway the conservative justices from searching for exceptions that might hurt America more than the bad actions of the chief executive. Shame on the Supremes who no longer deserve the trust of the American people. They are so obviously biased that most of us can only despair of fair decisions based on law and current cultural trends that represent most Americans.
Although there are no guardrails left in our constitution to protect us from a right-wing coup, now that we understand that the Court will no longer play fair and rid us of this politically criminal ex-president, we have only one damaged and "rigged" election left. We won't even have a decision on presidential immunity from the Supremes until June, and then many Americans may feel that we are too close to an election to try Trump based on the indictments of Jack Smith. Whatever happens, vote anyway!