Summary
Democrats blame Attorney General Merrick Garland for delaying prosecution of Donald Trump over the January 6 Capitol attack, allowing him to win reelection before facing trial.
Critics argue Garland wasted critical time before appointing a special prosecutor in late 2022, enabling Trump to evade accountability due to DOJ policy barring prosecution of sitting presidents.
While Trump faces ongoing civil lawsuits, his return to power threatens pardons for convicted rioters and continued revisionism about the attack.
Despite public disapproval of Trump’s actions, he successfully leveraged misinformation to regain the presidency.
Absolutely spineless administration
There are many forms of accountability.
No shit, we should have prosecuted and jailed him the second that shit happened. Instead, we spent the entire time debating whether a president can be prosecuted, and then concluded, nah bro, presidents can’t be prosecuted, lol.
They let Hitler go free too (though he did do jail time). That turned out well.
the road to fascism is paved by the judiciary
If you all haven’t already, I’d like to suggest that you create a PAC for running for president. This is your license to commit federal crimes without any consequences.
State crimes TBD in a few weeks.
You have to be a Republican, though.
Easy enough to chuck a couple of bucks toward the GOP. For the sake of committing major crimes against the federal government, might be worth it.
Yes, anyone who would need to do this is already the type of criminal the GOP loves, so it’s win-win!
and then Biden proved how weak he is by not immediately using that free pass to solve the problem.
i don’t know whats worse: that this happened, or that i don’t know a single person irl who isn’t just pretending like nothing happened and everything is going to be fine–even staunchly liberal antitrumpers
What are you expecting them to be doing instead? What are you doing differently than them?
organize, prepare, contingency planning-- but it’s tough for one person acting alone because everyone just doesn’t want to think about unpleasant things. so they don’t.
This is the key question…
The “don’t look up” phase
Biden’s legacy will be forever known as the man who enabled Trump to take over and ruin the “democracy” that Biden said he would save. Biden is America’s Hindenburg, acting like it was the moral and noble duty to appoint someone so corrupt and evil that if they had a devil whispering on their shoulder, that devil is the lesser evil.
Every single day Trump escaped jail is a day Biden should have fast tracked it, making sure his “one term” was going to actually going to do what he aimed to do, attempt to solve the crisis of Trump.
And now Biden will probably retire and/or flee the country as the people who voted for him and Harris are going to be sent to concentration camps. The Democrats will stick around as long as Trump wants them to, and when Trump wants to get rid of them, the higher ups will probably evade arresting, and the voters won’t be able to.
Nothing else pisses me off more. I voted for Biden to help take care of Trump. I hated supporting a racist old bastard, but I did it because I wanted the orange fucker gone and behind bars where he rotted away. And then he even failed at that.
I hate Trump, but my vitriol is towards people who can do better but refuse to do anything but sit by and watch the show. Refusing to chose a side as one side openly starts planning a governmental hostage situation to remove the rights of anyone but who is willing to lick Trump’s ass clean is choosing a side, and it’s not a good one.
God damn.
Yeah I agree. Biden was the only person who could enable a second Trump presidency.
Now, now, we just saw that’s not true. Harris could too.
Holy shit, you’re right. I’ve been wondering if/when we’d get a Hindenburg equivalent, but you nailed it. We already have one.
The best part is if you could, you’d vote for him again without learning anything every time
Voting for anyone besides Trump was the objectively correct decision.
Sorry spite makes it hard for you to process reality
What the fuck stupid shit is this?
Once Nader lost in 2000 it was over and inevitable. It showed republicans you can cry and win. Then the war on terrorism and the Patriot Act and the tea party now here.
Thinking people vote Biden and now bad is what a moron with no historical context believes. Your comment is stupid.
What’s the solution then, vote for Trump? 🙃
Democrats cared more about preserving the First-past-the-post voting system then they did beating trump. They wanted easy elections with no one threatening the status quo.
The self proclaimed democracy defenders didn’t level the playing field and give 3rd parties equal access to the electoral process.
Given their rhetoric, democrats understood what was at stake and still chose to not replace FPTP voting in states they controlled. Party over country till the bitter end.
Removed by mod
Merrick Garland wasted more than a year. That worthless waste of oxygen should be remembered as the reason we lost even the pretense of a democracy.
I never understood why Biden picked him. Obama only nominated him for SCOTUS because he thought he could get him past the GOP held senate due to his moderate beliefs (in the pejorative conservative sense).
Because Biden is not and will never be a progressive.
“Nothing will fundamentally change”
Can’t Biden remove the power to pardon without, say, 3/4th of Congress or something…that would be funny.
Droll, baby, droll!
This is on Brandon. Fucking idiot thought decorum or whatever the fuck was so goddamn important. He is a failure of historic proportion.
“They go low, we go high”
Absolutely.
Trump is 100% Biden’s legacy.
He could have gone down in history as savior of the Republic. But no. At least he didn’t do anything overtly political regarding his criminal predecessor. I’m sure that feels fucking great.
We can’t piss off the Republicans, Kamala will need to court them to win in 2024!
She needed the endorsement of Dick Cheney.
Don’t worry, presidential candidate Nancy Pelosi will get G.W. on the campaign trail if the next presidential election isn’t canceled for some reason.
who the fuck is Brandon?
Morons who care about right wing memes call Biden that
I always thought it was such a weirdly-cute thing personally. Like, “Let’s go Brandon” kinda feels uplifting (especially with how everyone uses it out of context to show excitement now) and I have no idea how any of it was suppose to be a dig at the guy.
I think my minds just confused and needing to recenter to the new normal at this point. ITT we have “constitutional citizens” going after Trump and Left-wing Preppers not realizing they’ve joined the community already.
AND WHO FUCKING APPOINTED MERRICK GARLAND?
It’s not too late. The 14th amendment Section 3 specifically prohibits an insurrectionist from holding public office unless a special Congressional vote is held and passes with a 2/3rds majority.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
All US citizens should call their representatives and demand they uphold their sworn Constitutional duty to refuse the certification of Donald Trump’s victory as he is disqualified from holding office.
This is not speculation. Donald Trump was successfully impeached for inciting insurrection. The US is in the middle of a Constitutional crisis which Congress must resolve.
Finding your reps is easy. Go here:
https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Either let the site use your location or enter your home address. It’ll pull all the info you need in one click.
With great sadness I’ll remind you that a majority of voters elected Trump.
At this point it just doesn’t really matter what the rules are. It hasn’t mattered before now. It certainly isn’t going to matter just a few weeks after the citizens expressed their desire that he be president.
I take issue with your assertion that the document on which all other US law depends and from which all US public offices are granted their authority does not matter. It must. We ought to insist it does. Especially while it is being violated.
Sadly, it doesn’t matter.
I’m grieving right along with you.
My point is, when someone is democratically elected in a free and fair election then the rules don’t really matter because they’re supposed to be derived from the will of the people anyway.
Using the law to undermine a democratic process is not the way.
You’ve fundamentally misunderstood this. Upholding Constitutional law cannot undermine the democratic process which it establishes.
If I win a game by breaking its rules I am de-facto disqualified from that victory. Yes, all law is written by people, can be unmade by people, and is only in effect so long as we collectively agree to enforce it, however; if the law is not unmade and if we collectively sigh in apathy at its violation then we are no longer playing the game the rules have defined.
This is the immense danger of the current Constitutional crisis. If there is no enforcement of the rules set forth in a government’s founding document then it can no longer be recognized as the body which that document defines.
I’m not debating the law and how it’s supposed to work.
I’m agreeing that the law is only relevant if you collectively agree to enforce it.
Sadly, in a recent election polling the entire nation, Americans collectively agreed to disregard the law in this instance.
This is not speculation. Donald Trump was successfully impeached for inciting insurrection.
Did you stop reading your link at the title? Literally the third sentence:
On February 13, 2021, the Senate voted to acquit Trump on the article of impeachment.
If you want to dig into the arguments about what is and isn’t legally insurrection and if the 14th Amendment is self executing or not, that is an interesting discussion. But, don’t lead with a “pants on head” stupid argument that the House passed Articles of Impeachment, for which the Senate acquitted him, as evidence that the 14th Amendment applies. Just fucking no.
Nope. I read it. The language of the 14th doesn’t require an impeachment or other formal conviction to apply. The fact that Trump was successfully impeached for inciting an insurrection is enough. The Senate’s failure to execute its duty does not erase reality.
At this time, on this topic, I am not concerned with what makes for interesting conservation. I am interested in bringing attention to the ongoing Constitutional crisis of Trump’s tentative second term.
The fact that Trump was successfully impeached for inciting an insurrection is enough. The Senate’s failure to execute its duty does not erase reality.
Do you actually understand how impeachment works? The House passing articles of impeachment means very little. For a legal equivalent, it’s like the grand jury agreeing to indict. Should we be punishing criminals just because charges were brought against them, even if they were acquitted? Of course not. While the House has the Power to Impeach:
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. -US Constitution, Article I, Section 3, Clause 6
The reality of the situation is that the Impeachment of Trump isn’t a factor in the 14th Amendment barring him. Had the Senate convicted, it would have been a cut and dried situation, but that didn’t happen. Were Trump convicted for insurrection for his actions on January 6th, it would again be an easy situation. The reason there is such an interesting conversation, and not much else, around the 14th Amendment and Trump is that the legal situation isn’t clear. Lots of folks have said that Trump’s actions were an insurrection, but he hasn’t actually been convicted of it. Congress could probably bar him from holding office, but that hasn’t happened.
I’d also point out how insane it would be for the House’s Power to Impeach to become the de facto bar for executing the 14th Amendment’s bar on holding office. This requires a simple majority in the House. Really think that one through. You want the House to be able to bar any person from holding Federal Office, based on a simple majority vote? The level of chaos that would create would be insane.
I do. Thanks. You’re still focused on the wrong thing here.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not require any specific test which defines “insurrection”. The impeachment is a useful anchor for establishing an agreement that an insurrection did occur and that Trump was, at the very least, an active participant in that insurrection.
The Insurrection Bar to Office: Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment (crsreports.congress.gov) provides an well crafted and neutral review of this. Its closing sentence is particularly relevant to our back and forth:
Congress has previously viewed Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment as establishing an enumerated constitutional qualification for holding office and, consequently, a grounds for possible exclusion.
Republican strategy has long revolved around the targeted devolution of norms. They hide in the cracks between definitions which assume good faith participation in the labor of mutually consensual governance and shield themselves in perpetual faux-victimhood. If Congress does not pursue the execution of Section 3 it is nothing less than an abdication of their duty to their Oath of Office.
Your last paragraph is a result of misunderstandings and assumptions on your part.
Section 3 of the 14th Amendment does not require any specific test which defines “insurrection”.
Ya, the real problem is that it doesn’t. As specifically stated by the CRS:
Determining who has engaged in either of the two disqualifying activities—that is, engaging in insurrection or rebellion or giving aid or comfort to an enemy—is likely to be a difficult task given the scarcity of precedents and lack of clear definitions
And that difficulty is why that whole document exists, there isn’t clear legal guidance. And the historic precedents on it are a mess. Yes, either house of Congress has the power to refuse to seat a member of their respective house and have used the 14th Amendment as a reason in the past. Moreover, Congress could pass a law which sets out a legal framework; but, that’s not really happened either. The whole reason that this is even a discussion is that lack of clarity.
Republican strategy has long revolved around the targeted devolution of norms. They hide in the cracks between definitions which assume good faith participation in the labor of mutually consensual governance and shield themselves in perpetual faux-victimhood. If Congress does not pursue the execution of Section 3 it is nothing less than an abdication of their duty to their Oath of Office.
Arguably, Congress did try to do something, the House Impeached Trump. The Senate dropped the ball. And the American people then buried that ball far enough to interfere with Satan’s daily activities by re-electiong Trump. It’s a bad situation, but also not one we’re going to solve by misrepresenting the law. Especially by handing The House the sole power to determine what Presidential Candidates have engaged in insurrection by a simple majority vote (the requirement to impeach). If you want to bring up “devolution of norms”, that sort of power is going to take the cake. Anytime we have a split government, we’re going to see impeachment and barring from office on the flimsiest of excuses. What we need isn’t half-baked ideas but an actual, well considered framework.
Your last paragraph is a result of misunderstandings and assumptions on your part.
I think it’s down to you moving the goalposts. You specifically stated:
The language of the 14th doesn’t require an impeachment or other formal conviction to apply. The fact that Trump was successfully impeached for inciting an insurrection is enough. The Senate’s failure to execute its duty does not erase reality.
You are arguing that the House Impeaching is enough to trigger Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. Which is what I’m calling ridiculous. Trump being convicted by the Senate would have clearly barred him from holding office again. The reality is that he was acquitted. That’s the part which is actually important.
He was impeached but not convicted by the feckless, obsequious Senate. And he wasn’t convicted by the courts. So this won’t happen, unfortunately
Neither of those facts preclude the application of the 14th. The barrier is whether or not someone holding public office, having taken an oath to uphold the Constitution, breaks that oath via insurrection against the same. It does not matter that Trump was not punished. The acquittal does not erase the reality of the past: it is a dismissal of immediate consequences. Nothing more.
The fact that Congress acknowledged the reality of January 6th is more than enough for the 14th to apply.
while true that merrick garland bungled this, i think we need to talk about who allowed him to bungle this. the call is coming from inside the house
It wouldn’t have stopped him from winning the election. Trump escaped accountability when the Senate failed to convict him in his second impeachment. That, and the first impeachment, were the only convictions that would have barred him from running. Two impeachments, one coup attempt, one felony conviction, and we still elected him. Pretty sure that’s on us.
Technically he is barred from holding office. He’s was shown to incite the Jan 6 insurrection in Colorado as a matter of fact.
The US Supreme Court said that Colarado couldn’t prevent him from running, it would be up to congress to reject him.
Of course congress won’t, but they are totally within their rights to do so now. Other people have been barred from holding offices over it.
Where “us” isn’t even the majority of basically any demographic but “uneducated”. Cool, good to know it’s my fault
Our fault.
DNC tried to get away with as much as shenanigans as they possible could while simultaneously calling this the most important election of our lifetimes. They get a massive share of the blame as well. Biden/Harris’s policy choices, when they made any at all, were awful.
I’m also very disappointed in the so-called accomplishments of the Biden/Harris administration, but I firmly believe the DNC’s complete unwillingness to run a primary without thumbing the scale is the main reason for how awful the last 12 years have been. If they could just run a normal goddamn primary without the bullshit we may be able to unify behind the nominee a little easier.
How about looking inward, Dems? How about accepting responsibility for not proffering a candid who could beat Trump?
Every article and a majority of the comments keep framing this as “Democrats fail to…” and “Democrats need to …” and even that feels disingenuous. The DNC and the current administration is to blame. The wording tries to spread blame to the voters as well and I have no idea what we as voters could have done with the “campaign” we were given.
Agreed. Voters didn’t get a choice. There weren’t democratic primaries.
Let me just stress: On that day.
As voters we should be participating in local politics as well. Gathering to protest. We need to actively participate in the society we live in. Becoming dependent on the system to protect our rights had failed us so now we have to defend those rights ourselves.
Self reflection? Sounds like you’re racist and sexist for not voting hard enough! /$
Funny. I blame capitalists.
