No. of Recommendations: 16
The Presidency is the most powerful office in the world. This office will not only test your judgement, perhaps even more importantly, it’s an office than can test your character. Because you not only face moments where you need the courage to exercise the full power of the Presidency, you also face moments where you need the wisdom to respect the limits of the power of the office of the Presidency.
This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each – each of us is equal before the law. No one – 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. For all practical purposes, today’s decision almost certainly means that there are virtually no limits on what a President can do. This is a fundamentally new principle and it is a dangerous precedent, because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law, even including the Supreme Court of the United States. The only limits will be self-imposed by the President alone.
This decision today has continued the court’s attack in recent years on a wide range of long established legal principles in our nation. From gutting voting rights to civil rights, to taking away a woman’s right to choose, to today’s decision that undermines the rule of law of this nation.
Nearly 4 years ago my predecessor sent a violent mob to the US Capitol to stop the peaceful transfer of power. We all saw with our own eyes. We sat there and watched it happen that day. The attack on the police. The ransacking of the Capitol. A mob literally hunting down the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Gallows erected to hang the Vice President, Mike Pence. I think it’s fair to say it’s one of the darkest days in the history of America.
Now the man who sent that mob to the US Capitol is facing potential criminal conviction for what happened that day. The American people deserve to have an answer in the courts before the upcoming election. The public has a right to know the answer about what happened on January 6 before they are asked to vote again this year. Now because of today’s decision that is highly, highly unlikely. It is a terrible disservice to the people of this nation.
So now the American people will have to do what the courts should have been willing to do but would not. The American people are going to have to render judgement about Donald Trump’s behavior. The American people must decide whether Donald Trump’s assault on our democracy on January 6th makes him unfit for public office in the highest office in the land. The American people must decide if Trump’s embrace of violence to preserve his power is acceptable. Perhaps most importantly, the American people must decide if they want to entrust the Presidency once again to Donald Trump, now knowing that he’ll be more emboldened to do whatever he pleases, whenever he wants to do it.
You know, at the outset of our nation it was the character of George Washington, our first President, to define the Presidency. He believed power was limited, not absolute, and that power always resides in the people. Always. Now, over 200 years later, with today’s Supreme Court decision, once again it will depend on the charater of the men and women who hold that Presidency, that are going to define the limits on the power of the Presidency because the law will no longer do it.
I know I will respect the limits on the Presidential powers I have had for 3 ½ years, but any President including Donald Trump will now be free to ignore the law. I concur with Justice Sotomayor’s dissent today. Here’s what she said. “In every use of official power the President is now a king above the law. With fear for our democracy, I dissent.”
So should the American people dissent. I dissent. May God bless you all. May God help preserve our democracy. Thank you. May God protect our troops.
---------------
This is my own transcription. Boy, do I wish I could still type as fast as I used to. Transcription errors, and occasional decisions on what words were said are mine. But virtually none of you will take the time to listen for yourselves, so you'll never know.
--Peter
