Sometimes I think we’re living in a Scooby-Doo episode, but with meddling judges instead of kids.
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BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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One might think that a better lede would be: “Trump advocates fascism saying we should get rid judges”, but whatever. It’s not like we can expect even our most sympathetic media outlets to adopt Foxian tactics. But at least MSNBC reported it!
Of course, Trumper’s “explanation” here is that he “only” means (largely non-white) asylum seekers and displaced persons should have no ability to seek the protections of American law and should simply be at the mercy of the executive’s legal interpretations. In other words, the immigration system should operate completely at the whim of a lawless authoritarian like Trump. Sounds reasonable! But since his supporters almost all voted for him for expressing his hatred of non-white immigrants from “shithole” countries, they’d obviously approve of a fascist approach to (non-white) immigrants and asylum seekers, too. As long as it’s immigrants in (Blue) urban areas, because National Trumpalists want their crops picked!
While his comment was specifically directed to immigration judges appointed by the executive branch (who are specialist judges under Art I, without lifetime tenure), I submit that it’s not going too far to see this as Der Trumper musing about a society without any independent judges. The law has always been at least a minor pain in the ass for professional criminals like him and his disgusting adult children.
We know Der Trumper is openly impressed by authoritarian strong men who dominate their societies and operate outside of a human rights paradigm. We know (from his ex-wife) he is a closet admirer of the King of Fascists, Uncle Adolf himself. We know he openly courts the votes and approval of white nationalists and the alt-right, another group openly adoring of the fabled Fuhrer. Trump cannot do much more to make clear his admiration of fascism as a political system. So of course he would fantasize about a legal system without independent judges to objectively adjudicate claims.
What’s amazing is that even with a hand-picked white-washing Repub attorney general and the installation of a democratically illegitimate 5 man “conservative”-extremist majority running the High Court, our little Mussolini-wannabe pines for a more authoritarian system without an independent judiciary or law enforcement. Even the rigged system we now have does not provide enough emotional comfort for him!
Kind of remarkable, and something which one might think that a professional corps of journalists would devote some attention. The ultimate problem of course is that the National Trumpalist 46% agree with Der Trumper completely on this point. Just another sign that there is no longer any real basis for this country to continue as a unified entity. A house divided cannot stand, to quote another (somewhat wiser) American prez…
And as a final afterthought, it is difficult to imagine that an immigration/asylum system operating without any judges whatsoever would satisfy a (modern) conception of the 5th Amendment Due Process clause. So of course the modern Repub party (and our so-called “conservative” movement) would advocate for it.
What our 5 “conservative” activists posing as “Justices” would think about such a system can only be guessed at.
Everything is normal here. No need for alarm.
Just wait until we get a R president who isn’t a dotard, can stick to a plan for more than two days, and is smart enough to keep his mouth shut about what he really wants.
Trump doesn’t scare me. Tom Cotton (or whichever smart neofascist the R party picks) scares me.
Tom Cotton has a particularly malevolent political philosophy and acts it out on the regular. He seems more extreme and dangerous to me than Mitch McConnell. That’s pretty remarkable. The only thing he lacks right now is power, and a broad following.
I’m fairly confident that Cotton would be a poor Presidential candidate. I find Trump uniquely distasteful, but he has a recognizable charisma as he delivers the bloody red meat to conservatives. I don’t expect Cotton’s odd anti-charisma to travel well outside of the Arkansas region and the gutbucket conservative base.
The challenge Republicans will have moving forward is that their policy agenda is extremely unpopular, and they will further crater their support from independents and goose turnout from Democrats if they even try to move major portions of their agenda, much less pass it. I use their 2005 attempt to eviscerate Social Security as a particularly sharp example of this phenomenon; their ongoing effort to take health insurance from over 20 million Americans who have gained it in recent years is another.
Trump does scare me , After he does have access to the Nuclear codes… Never forget…