I've seen several posts of people saying that Bidens speech was him saying "I cant do anything about this," which is a fundamental misunderstanding of what he said & indictative of a deeply shallow/unserious understanding of politics & the stakes. Biden is *rejecting* this power. Full stop.
The president went out tonight and basically said "I reject the power being offered to become an unaccountable dictator and I think its dangerous to even be offered" and there are ppl that are pressed by that! Like, do they not get what happens if this new lawlessness is legitimized by Dems?
once u realize that a lot of ppl on here that are ostensibly on "the left" are actually pretty invested in an illiberal idea of politics/power, a lot of the shit they say makes sense. They dont want a democracy nor do they see value in one. They just want the "right" kind of authoritarian in charge
I think I've said this before, but this attitude of "Our lives are literally in danger! We can't pay attention to rules and norms now! We're going to die if we don't do something!" was exactly the rhetoric after 9/11, and the rhetoric that led to the Patriot Act.
right but my motives are pure and my cause is just
not like the other guys
I'm definitely equipped to decide who has to play by the rules (somehow it's never me teehee)
fair, and yet Biden could have said "I reject the decision, and this court, as illegitimate," as Jamie Raskin did a few weeks ago in the House on TV.
He didn't go that far. He should.
I am quite sure that Biden will continue to be critical of this decision and this SCOTUS going foward. Ppl are behaving as if a presidential address to the nation--fundamentally different than a campaign event--is the entirety of commentary on the subject, when it obviously will not be.
I hope you're right, and I felt the same optimistic way you do when Biden announced his Court Commission. Then I saw who he picked to run it, and who was on it.
We should keep the pressure on Biden and Schumer and other Dems because there is lots of inertia.
I agree. However, the Dems tend to very conservative of how institutions operate. I agree with AOC that 3 justices should be impeached. I agree with Ro Khanna the court should be expanded and term limits set. I also agree with a code of ethics. We need D unity on this, and I doubt that will happen.
Exactly. Last night was Biden's "Don't tempt me, Frodo" moment--which I say not to trivialize but as, for me anyway, a kind of lens for understanding those stakes you mention.
Power can lie in the *rejection* of power, too.
