According to ABC News, “The Supreme Court has denied special counsel Jack Smith’s request to immediately take up former President Donald Trump’s claims of immunity from prosecution in his federal election interference case. In a single-line order Friday, the court declined to grant a writ of certiorari before judgment — meaning it will allow a federal appeals court to hear the matter first, which is what Trump’s legal team had urged the court to do. The decision effectively keeps the court out of the case for now and could mean the case’s March 4 trial date could be delayed. … Trump is seeking the dismissal of the case on the grounds that he has ‘absolute immunity’ from prosecution for actions taken while serving in the nation’s highest office.” Traitor trump wins again — I expected nothing less from this SCOTUS!
This is the death of democracy by a thousand cuts. To be sure, moving America’s democracy backward is the aim of the High Court, but they wrap up their subversive behaviors in the aura of stateliness, decorum, measured order, fulsome processes, honored tradition, and notorious opaqueness. The most benign interpretation of this order, along with its brevity denoting no dissents, is that they wish to allow the appellate court in D.C. to rule on the case first, which has been scheduled for an expedited hearing on 9 January. The D.C. court has moved quickly in the past so that they may have a decision within a month of oral arguments. But this, I fear, is only setting the trap to exonerate traitor trump.
Again, one must perceive the critically important question of WWSD in light of a conservative supermajority Court that sees a RepubliKKKlan presidency as imperial and preferred to a tyrannical Democratic presidency. But, of course, their decisions to act (or, more importantly, not to act) are subtle, and they often look to avoid tough questions directly when possible in favor of insidiousness disguised by implicit and obtuse steps (e.g., the shadow docket). Playing right into traitor trump’s delay tactics guides SCOTUS. The closer this criminal case gets to election day — intentionally pushed by traitor trump and SCOTUS — then the more probable it is the conservative justices — who in all likelihood would welcome a second traitor trump term — will not abide a legal case moving forward for fear of “election interference.” These conservative justices have already ruled (or failed to rule) in several voter suppression and redistricting cases in which they deemed too close to elections for fear making changes would confuse voters (and government agencies) and prejudice forthcoming contests. (And by “too close,” I mean more than a year out.) This case in question is less than a year out, so naturally, I can see any ruling by the inferior courts that would negatively impact traitor trump’s run for president being overturned or stayed until after the election.
If SCOTUS can get its way without having to rule on the actual merits of the case, then all the better for them. The conservative wing is precisely in the position of power to effectuate their desired outcome while ignoring the liberal justices entirely. Just as tersely as they denied cert in Jack Smith’s emergency appeal, they can delay and stay the case (and others) indefinitely without ever declaring one way or the other if traitor trump is immune from criminal prosecution for his actions as president, which is ideal for SCOTUS because God forbid this Court should ever have to judge the age-old question: Is the president above the criminal law? The conservative justices are scared to death of having to ponder that question (for a RepubliKKKlan president, that is). The outcome is already certain; it’s just a matter of SCOTUS looking to be impartial while bamboozling the public. Welcome to stupid America. The die has already been cast, and the death of our democracy is the outcome.