What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Zanza]

Carl Schmitt's Political Theology should be required reading.  As with Schmitt's analysis of the weak seams in Weimar Constitution, the MAGA shock troops have identified broadly worded emergency powers legislation as a tool for subverting constitutional government.  The Nazis initally came to power through elections and through the constitutional process.  They built their one-party dictatorship on Weimar's constitutional foundations: first the Nazis convinced the aging and addled Hindenburg to invoke emergency powers to pass the Reichstag Fire Decree, eliminating civil liberties; second, they got the Reichstag to pass the Enabling Act, nullifying itself and providing the legal foundation for the dictatorship.

And of course that was followed by the Gleichschaltung where all institutions, be it economy, culture, education, media, were brought under the heel of the totalitarian state.

[Oexmelin]

Why do so many of President Trump's multitudinous executive orders fly in the face of extant legal principles? Are they the result of incompetence? Is the administration laying the groundwork for test cases in an effort to expand executive power in the Supreme Court?

Below we assess a third possibility: the administration doesn't care about compliance with current law, might not care about what the Supreme Court thinks either, and is seeking to effectuate radical constitutional change.

The third possibility sounds histrionic, which is not our usual posture. But it appears to be the view of Trump's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, who is one of Trump's "most influential advisers," who will be voted on for confirmation in the Senate soon, and who will play a central role in Trump's executive orders, if he hasn't already.

https://executivefunctions.substack.com/p/the-trump-executive-orders-as-radical

[garbon]

Why do so many of President Trump's multitudinous executive orders fly in the face of extant legal principles? Are they the result of incompetence? Is the administration laying the groundwork for test cases in an effort to expand executive power in the Supreme Court?

Below we assess a third possibility: the administration doesn't care about compliance with current law, might not care about what the Supreme Court thinks either, and is seeking to effectuate radical constitutional change.

The third possibility sounds histrionic, which is not our usual posture. But it appears to be the view of Trump's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, who is one of Trump's "most influential advisers," who will be voted on for confirmation in the Senate soon, and who will play a central role in Trump's executive orders, if he hasn't already.

https://executivefunctions.substack.com/p/the-trump-executive-orders-as-radical

A convicted felon doesn't care about the law?

[Oexmelin]

Lots of people cling to the idea that the courts will save them. Many don't seem to have figured out what to do if he just doesn't care.

[crazy canuck]

Lots of people cling to the idea that the courts will save them. Many don't seem to have figured out what to do if he just doesn't care.

Yes, and it's worse than that.  Add Musk to the mix and the unlawful acts become so rapid and broad that the court process, which is slow, cannot possibly keep up. The damage will be done long before this hits a court room.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Lots of people cling to the idea that the courts will save them. Many don't seem to have figured out what to do if he just doesn't care.

The Democratic party leadership will write so many sternly worded letters. And if that doesn't work, they might even hold a press conference!

[garbon]

Lots of people cling to the idea that the courts will save them. Many don't seem to have figured out what to do if he just doesn't care.

The Democratic party leadership will write so many sternly worded letters. And if that doesn't work, they might even hold a press conference!

Better or worse than the peanut gallery whining about the leadership?

[The Minsky Moment]

Yes, and it's worse than that.  Add Musk to the mix and the unlawful acts become so rapid and broad that the court process, which is slow, cannot possibly keep up. The damage will be done long before this hits a court room.

That's the bigger short-term risk.  There is a strategy to flood the zone overwhelm the judiciary's ability to cope.  Plus, there are a few Judge Cannons already seeded in the system that may make things worse with crazy decisions; not to mention the two bought-and-paid for Supreme Court justices and Judge Robert's Hamlet-like vacillations of To Be or Not to Be a facilitator of authoritarian executive power.

[HisMajestyBOB]

Lots of people cling to the idea that the courts will save them. Many don't seem to have figured out what to do if he just doesn't care.

The Democratic party leadership will write so many sternly worded letters. And if that doesn't work, they might even hold a press conference!

Better or worse than the peanut gallery whining about the leadership?

Worse: no one is expecting the peanuts to step up and lead.

[crazy canuck]

Maybe too simplistic a point, but if the Dems had strong leadership over the couple of years, this would likely not have happened.

Probably too much to ask that they have it now.

[crazy canuck]

Yes, and it's worse than that.  Add Musk to the mix and the unlawful acts become so rapid and broad that the court process, which is slow, cannot possibly keep up. The damage will be done long before this hits a court room.

That's the bigger short-term risk.  There is a strategy to flood the zone overwhelm the judiciary's ability to cope.  Plus, there are a few Judge Cannons already seeded in the system that may make things worse with crazy decisions; not to mention the two bought-and-paid for Supreme Court justices and Judge Robert's Hamlet-like vacillations of To Be or Not to Be a facilitator of authoritarian executive power.

Yeah, Rule of Law - it was nice knowing you.

[crazy canuck]

Trump just said that Musk will be reciewing education and defence spending next.

Thing is the EO Trump signed didn't give any budget authority to Musk.  The EO just authorized overview of software systems-but that a small thing like actual legal authorization does not seem to matter

[Razgovory]

My mom watches a lot of NBC news, something I avoid, and she keeps telling me stuff like "oh, they really stepped in shit now, Elon Musk was looking at classified documents", or "courts are stopping Trump now!", like any of that actually matters.  It didn't really matter that much back in 2017, and it certainly doesn't matter now.  The laws don't apply to Trump or Musk anymore.  That's not going to stop them.  And no, going out demonstrating won't do shit either.  Setting buildings on fire and killing random people like in 2020, that isn't going to move the needle, nor is rich kids doing "die-ins" at an Elite University or giving impromptu lectures to the working class about white privilege.

[Valmy]

My mom watches a lot of NBC news, something I avoid, and she keeps telling me stuff like "oh, they really stepped in shit now, Elon Musk was looking at classified documents", or "courts are stopping Trump now!", like any of that actually matters.  It didn't really matter that much back in 2017, and it certainly doesn't matter now.  The laws don't apply to Trump or Musk anymore.  That's not going to stop them.  And no, going out demonstrating won't do shit either.  Setting buildings on fire and killing random people like in 2020, that isn't going to move the needle, nor is rich kids doing "die-ins" at an Elite University or giving impromptu lectures to the working class about white privilege.

If MAGA was out there protesting they would instantly cave. But us protesting? That's not going to do anything.

The only way they get stopped is by falling apart and fighting amongst themselves.

[Legbiter]

My mom watches a lot of NBC news, something I avoid, and she keeps telling me stuff like "oh, they really stepped in shit now, Elon Musk was looking at classified documents", or "courts are stopping Trump now!", like any of that actually matters.  It didn't really matter that much back in 2017, and it certainly doesn't matter now.  The laws don't apply to Trump or Musk anymore.  That's not going to stop them.  And no, going out demonstrating won't do shit either.  Setting buildings on fire and killing random people like in 2020, that isn't going to move the needle, nor is rich kids doing "die-ins" at an Elite University or giving impromptu lectures to the working class about white privilege.

It's a real live anthropological preference cascade. The cultural norms maintained by the previous clerical caste (ugly people listing their various mental illnesses in their social media bios) since about 2014 until about Trump 2,0; built up a lot of quiet normie resentment (flammable tinder) that Trump 2,0 only had to breathe a spark into.

Every action has an equal reaction so the anti-whatever-has-reigned since about 2014 is going to be at least equally deranged.