President Trump has a method, and it works. He games the legal system.
The problem with his having a free hand is that Trump has bad taste and judgment.
The Supreme Court just voted 5-4 that a board member of the National Trust for Historic Preservation lacked standing to object to the destruction of the East Wing of the White House and replacing it with a giant ballroom.
Trump won another round. He called it a victory. It is a curse.
This decision shines a spotlight on the Trump device for being lawless: President Trump does whatever he darned well wants to do, legal or not, then waits for the achingly-slow justice system to react, and by then it's a done deal.
Trump's method of acting quickly and outrunning the legal system worked with imposing tariffs on a pretext, and it worked with invading Venezuela on a pretext. He flouts the War Powers Act on pretexts, and ,this week, his lawyers got the Supreme Court OK to let the Postal Service stop mail voting until states were in fact hurt, not just prospectively hurt.
America is going to get Trump's ballroom in all its splendor. Trump will have "won." It will reflect Trump's will and taste. It will project extravagance and self-serving Trump-style luxury. A golden ballroom is a classic "Nero fiddles" or "Let them eat cake" symbol. That was the point Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia made in the speech that drew attention for having named "Natalie" as Trump's close companion. Trump is not attending to his job while the public suffers.
Had this gone through the normal legislative process, the East Wing/ballroom project would have been shown to be well- justified, or more likely, would have been scaled down to something politically manageable. There might have been a spirit of national pride in the improvements. Now Democrats deride the ballroom's extravagance, and Republicans in Congress are forced to defend it, or explain why they didn't stop it.
Trump's willful, swashbuckling, narcissistic judgment creates a peril for Republicans candidates and officeholders. His tariffs are unpopular. His Iran war is unpopular. His inflation is unpopular, as is his minimizing it. His proposed Trump Arch is unpopular. His Qatar gift jet is unpopular. His Argentina beef deal is unpopular, at least with ranchers. His crypto meme coin grift and $1,776 billion settlement with himself are unpopular. His attaching his name onto the Kennedy Center is unpopular. His disruption of voting by mail is unpopular and will become more so if county clerks in both red and blue states say that Trump created election chaos.
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5 comments:
Trump's supposed positive attribute from before was as builder or project manager--the Central Park ice rink, for instance.
Now the Reflecting Pool is a fiasco, and the gilt ballroom looks to be both boondoggle and eyesore, like a tacky casino space.
Still, his familiar legal strategy--avoid the merits until it's a fait accompli either way--well serves this destructive primping.
Crazy but true--these domestic self-tributes may prove a net benefit if they forestall new hazardous tirades on the world stage.
His taste for gold is just so him. It’s tasteless but he doesn’t realize it. In the meantime the Supreme Court once again lets the country down.
Please American people, punish republicans so we can begin the process of healing and restoring democracy.
Why don't Democrats try to stop Trump by using the Judicial System? WHY?? Trump is out of control, but Democrats have proven themselves to be spineless with their whining. There is a Court System. Use it.
Ya gotta wonder what John Roberts who dissented on this ruling, thinks about his decision (he wrote the majority opinion) in the 6-3 Trump v. United States ruling where they granted him unlimited presidential immunity. So “likely unlawful” doesn’t even matter, does it Justice Roberts? Nor any other law Trump decides to flout. That ruling (immunity) and Citizens United are probably the two most significant rulings that will cause the collapse of our republic.
Trumps latest edict on mail-in ballots will ensure that his promise to Evangelicals during his last campaign (that they’ll never need to vote again if he’s elected) comes true. Also “likely illegal”. His timing is perfect because the chaos it sews is designed to give reason to doubt the midterm outcomes. It’ll be a s*** show.
I'm not sure what Anonymous' point is. Twice now the Supreme Court has decided Trump can go ahead with his ballroom construction, even though it may not be legal. After all, the Supremes consider him above the law. That's what our republic has degenerated into.
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