The 24 Seven: Hail to the King Edition
24sight News’ twice-weekly newsletter highlighting the seven most important stories shaping the race for the White House
1. King’s Landing
The U.S. Supreme Court handed the president of the United States immense new powers, removing the threat of prosecution for any action taken in office deemed to be an “official act”. What exactly that means has yet to be determined (one of the first key tests will be how U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan applies that to Trump’s January 6th criminal trial – if that trial ever starts.)
Former Trump Justice Department spokeswoman Sarah Isgur cautioned though that the histrionics from the left and the right ignore that the former president is still on the hook for likely most of his January 6th criminal charges.
Meanwhile, conservative jurist J. Michael Luttig says SCOTUS’s presidential immunity decision is truly historic — for all the wrong reasons.
“It can never again be said that in America ‘no man is above the law,’” the former circuit court judge and advisor to former vice president Mike Pence wrote online, chiding the sitting justices for making convicted felon Donald Trump virtually untouchable if he gets back into office.
(Of note, Pence himself, who is very much at the center of this historic ruling, has been quiet in its wake.)
Meanwhile, The Swamp (official Washington) is busy tacking and positioning for what that will mean next year, even though it’s still not clear what it means. Axios, which does one of the best jobs channeling corporate right sentiments in Washington, deemed the decision now paves the way for an imperial Trump. Liberal thought leaders dropped the euphemism and said it makes the next president a dictator.
It’s remarkable though, how few have decided this makes the current president an emperor or a dictator.
2. Philosopher kings
The founders crafted the Supreme Court in Article III of the Constitution, as many historians have argued, with an eye toward “philosopher kings” of antiquities – wizened leaders revered by the populace. The justices have lifetime appointments and, as has been evidenced in many recent Supreme Court scandals, minimal outside oversight.
Monday’s landmark ruling may have proved a breaking point.
Biden’s first public comments after the ruling were to blast the conservative justices for undermining the nation’s foundation as anti-monarchal. And lawmakers across the left said it was time to “pack the court” by adding justices who could circumvent (something the Biden campaign dodged talking about Tuesday.)
Liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders challenged the “out of control” conservative justices on the U.S. Supreme Court to give up their lifetime appointments and campaign as MAGA already.
“If these conservative justices want to make public policy, they should simply quit the Supreme Court and run for political office,” Sanders said in an official statement after the 6-3 ruling on presidential immunity that delighted Trumpworld.
The Vermont Independent also called on Congress to pressure the high court any way possible. “A strong enforceable code of ethics is a start, but … we’ll need much more than that,” he predicted.
3. DunnKings
Biden’s tight knit inner circle continues to be the most-watched operation in politics, getting Trump-2016 level attention (how will Saturday Night Live handle this?)
As the fallout from the terrible debate performance continues, with Democrats now openly blaming each other for hiding Biden’s frailties, read Alex Thompson, who has been doing some of the sharpest reporting from inside Biden World.
4. New kings
CNN tested replacements for Biden against Trump. Vice President Kamala Harris polled the best, down only 47-45% nationwide at the moment. Other possible replacements did worse.
5. Troll kings
Trump and his supporters have promised to throw their opponents in jail if he returns to the White House. They haven’t said, however, on what charges.
6. Monarching
The nationalist populists, who now form the dominant bloc in the Republican Party, have long lobbied for replacing the democratic republic with a monarchy. A decade ago, as veteran conservative columnist Matt Lewis noted in his seminal 2015 column, the idea was fan fiction.
Now it’s a distinct possibility. Big tech oligarchs, like Trump influencer Peter Thiel, have long argued that democracy is over and the country needs a monarch.
Be sure to keep an eye on the National Conservativism Conferece in Washington next week. At one time a fringe group seen as trying to “intellectualize” Trumpism, it has now supplanted the ld conservative conferences of yore like CPAC, in terms of sway and power.
7. Sulking
Biden clapped back at SCOTUS after it granted him, and future presidents, immense power saying Monday that the founders specifically built the system of checks and balances to guard against a king – like the one they just fought the Revolutionary War against.
“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each — each of us is equal before the law,” Biden said. “No one is above the law, not even the president of the United States. With today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed.”
It’s remarkable in no small part because Trump has convinced a sizable minority of the country that they already live in a dictatorship and that Biden is the mummified decrepit keeping them oppressed.
America celebrates the 248th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the last king to lord over it on Thursday.
It’s now obviously a changed world we live in. And the future is dark. Thanks for shedding some light on it.