Who We Choose to Be

An imperial presidency and the end of democracy

Undoing 248 years of democracy and its system of checks and balances which was designed to rein in a powerful executive, on Monday the Supreme Court ripped up the Constitution in the service of one man—Donald Trump. My greatest fear before the decision on presidential immunity was handed down was not that the justices would grant absolute immunity to whomever occupied the Oval Office, but that they would, as they did in Bush v. Gore, use a sledgehammer and a scalpel to benefit only Donald Trump, bestowing upon him not only heretofore unthinkable power, but also retroactively and prospectively making it impossible to hold him criminally accountable for anything.

They’ve obviously forgotten who they’re dealing with. We’re Americans. We don’t do kings.

But it completely tracks that the Court would hand down a decision this misguided and un-American. After all, they’re so out of touch with the American people, so enamored of their own unfettered power that they have devolved into an illegitimate supermajority of myopic solipsists.

But we haven’t forgotten who we are. I’ll say it again—we’re Americans. We don’t do kings. 

We’re going to have to remind the Supreme Court and my uncle who really has the power in this country. We need to dump some metaphorical tea in the metaphorical harbor and declare our independence from the ignorant, cruel, and dangerous right-wing zealots who are on a mission to strip our rights and our country away from us.

The whole notion that with great power comes great responsibility has been turned on its head. In fact, in America, it turns out the most powerful among us now have all of the benefits of that extraordinary power, but bear none of the responsibilities and risks that should of necessity come from wielding it.

Thomas Jefferson took great exception to this anti-American, anti-democratic principle and his objection was practical, not theoretical. Having been commander-in-chief for two terms, he recognized that:

“It is incumbent on those only who accept of great charges, to risk themselves on great occasions, when the safety of the nation, or some of its very high interests are at stake.”

Further, “[T]he good officer is bound to draw it at his own peril, and throw himself on the justice of his country and the rectitude of his motives.”

One of the many great ironies, of course, is that such protections have never been needed by any American president before and Donald, the person to whom they’ve been extended, has never done anything, whether criminal or not, in service to his country. His crimes themselves have always been self-serving, one way or the other, and these crimes, and the commission of more in the future, are what the Supreme Court has sanctioned.

This Court’s corruption is so obvious I find it impossible to believe something can’t be done. There is no mention of a president’s absolute immunity anywhere in the text of the Constitution (for the very reason that such a concept was anathema to the Founders), and this is what Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of independence:

“A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.”

There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty right now, and it’s completely understandable if you don’t feel much like celebrating. The gap between who we are and who we aspire to, has widened considerably in the last week, so it’s ok to take a beat.

On top of everything else, Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and one of the architects of the fascist playbook, Project 2025, declared that this country is “in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” 

That’s a threat and an open declaration that they’re coming for the America we know and love.

Such brazen contempt for the Constitution, the rule of law, and the American experiment motivates me to do everything I can to make sure Donald and his followers are never able to make good on their threats. It’s why I stand with President Biden and Vice President Harris and will spend every day between now and the election working to make sure they’re re-elected in November.

For all the infighting that’s happening right now, I know we’re going to come together when it counts, because we are the middle of a new American revolution. And just like the original Revolution we’re going to beat the loyalists who would have us bow down to monarchists; just like World War II, we’re going to beat the fascists. 

The Founders got a lot wrong, much of it egregiously, but they knew what they were fighting for and they knew what they were compelled to resist: a monarch with absolute power. I think it’s safe to say that on this day they would be spinning in their graves at the shocking direction things have taken in the last eight years—a dark slide that has accelerated exponentially in the last six days.

Donald Trump once declared that he’d be “dictator on Day 1.” The Supreme Court heard that and then, just in time for July 4^th, a day on which the citizens of this country are supposed to be celebrating its independence from the tyranny of an absolute ruler, the illegitimate supermajority of the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, responded by saying, “No, Donald, you and only you can be dictator every single day.”

Hopefully, next year on the fourth of July we will have something to celebrate--a energized sense of purpose, and a renewed push for a democracy that works for all of us.

In response to the majority opinion that obliterated the 248-year-old concept that no man is above the law, Justice Sotomayor wrote, “With fear for our democracy, I respectfully dissent.”

Let that be our rallying cry:

We dissent.

We concede nothing

We give our permission for none of this.

We will not cede an inch.