Trump's Disregard for the Rule of Law Is at Least As Bad As Biden's
The former president reminds us that claiming unbridled executive power is a bipartisan tendency.
Sometime this month or next, the Supreme Court is expected to tell President Joe Biden that he can't forgive $400 billion in student loan debt without congressional authorization. That plan is one of several ways in which Biden has embraced an expansive view of executive power that elevates his own preferences above the law.
Unfortunately, that is a bipartisan tendency, as Donald Trump, the leading contender to oppose Biden in the 2024 presidential election, recently reminded us. During his town hall on CNN last week, the former president showed a disregard for the rule of law and separation of powers at least as troubling as Biden's.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins asked Trump why he retained thousands of presidential records, including hundreds that were marked as classified, when he left office in January 2021. "I have the absolute right to do whatever I want with them," he claimed.
As Collins pointed out, that is simply not true. Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, "the United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records."
As Trump himself noted, Congress enacted that law because Richard Nixon "had a lot of problems." Specifically, Nixon had threatened to destroy presidential documents that Congress thought should be protected to promote transparency and preserve the historical record.
Yet here was Trump, insisting that he was not bound by that judgment or by a law that makes it a felony to "conceal" or "remove" government documents. The "absolute right" that Trump asserts evidently also nullifies a law that makes it a felony to improperly retain "information relating to the national defense" that "could be used to the injury of the United States or to the advantage of any foreign nation."
The personal prerogative that Trump perceives may also explain why he failed to fully comply with a federal subpoena seeking all documents at Mar-a-Lago that bore classification markings. Collins repeatedly asked him about his apparent defiance of that subpoena, which was the main justification for the FBI's August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago and remains a central issue in Special Counsel Jack Smith's obstruction investigation. Trump repeatedly dodged the question.
Trump's disregard for legal constraints on presidential power was also apparent in his response to an audience question about his unilateral ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that facilitates rapid firing. Two federal appeals courts have ruled that the ban was illegal.
In that regard, Trump's policy resembles the Biden administration's attempts to ban pistol stabilizing braces and "ghost guns." Trump not only does not recognize this commonality; he does not even acknowledge that it is problematic to legislate under the guise of regulation. "Bump stocks are actually a very unimportant thing," he said.
Trump also had a hand in the national eviction moratorium that the Supreme Court rejected in 2021, saying it "strains credulity" to suppose that Congress had given the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the "breathtaking amount of authority" it asserted. Although it was the Biden administration that unsuccessfully defended the CDC's repeated extensions of that policy, it was Trump who first embraced it.
The dubious legal theory underlying the eviction moratorium was broad enough to accommodate all manner of edicts aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19, including the national mask mandate that both Trump and Biden (eventually) conceded was beyond the president's power. Trump also erroneously asserted that he had "total" authority to lift state-imposed lockdowns during the pandemic.
Whether it was building a border wall that Congress had declined to fund, launching military strikes without congressional authorization, or withholding funds from states that allowed broad use of mail-in ballots, Trump's position was clear: He would do what he wanted, regardless of what Congress said.
Biden has a similar attitude, as illustrated by his student loan plan, his gun control initiatives, and his ill-fated vaccine mandate. But Republicans are fooling themselves if they think Trump would be any better in this respect.
© Copyright 2023 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
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Keep trying, motherfucker.
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Also, fuck you for making me continue to defend Trump three years after his presidency ended.
I don’t even like the son-of-a-bitch, but I hate you cunts even more for forcing me into a position where I have to clarify his actual transgressions to refute your retarded-ass fucknuggetry.
Eat a whole fucking bowl of habanero spiced cocks, Sullum.
Go die in a fire while declaring “This is fine.” you poncy twat.
Biden’s bad. But Trump is worse. So whatever you do, you must remember to either vote Democrat or waste your vote on a minor third party candidate to signal your virtue and purity.
Thank you for your attention. Remember, we are always fervently neutral in republican vs Democrat partisan issues. And please remember to forward your contributions.
Sincerely
The Reason Editorial Staff
“Also, fuck you for making me continue to defend Trump three years after his presidency ended.”
We (“we” being sane and benevolent people in general) hereby and alwaysby GIVE YE PERMISSION to LET IT GO! You are allowed to NOT defend The Indefensible Donald!
“STOP making me invade Ukraine!” says Putin. “Fuck you for making me invade Ukraine”, says Putin. Authoritarians always say the exact same bullshit stupid things, and lies. You are BORING and EVIL!
It’s so horrible what the democrats, the RINOs, and the leftist media have done to help create a country of entitled, lazy, mentally challenged, UN-patriotic, misinformed, historically, economically, financially, civically, biologically, scientifically, and Constitutionally ignorant! Please take the RED pill and get educated. This country has increasingly become more emotionally apoplectic and accepting about everything that doesn’t matter, and increasingly ignorant and apathetic about the things that do! We are in big trouble if we don’t turn boys into men and girls into women instead of emasculating men, and making women think they’re men. God help us!
“…and accepting about everything that doesn’t matter…”
Such ass the SACRED rights of wee, tiny little Sacred Fartilized Egg Smells, perhaps? MAN UP AND MAN THE BARRICADES, THE WOMB-SLAVES ARE REBELLING!!!
Did I get it right, or are ye talking about something else, perhaps?
Look, a genocidest.
http://www.churchofsqrls.com/Jesus_Validated/#_Toc117957741
QUESTIONS THAT THE FANATICS WON’T EVER ANSWER: What do YOU think that the punishment should be for deliberately killing a fertilized human egg cell? Ditto the punishments for likewise killing a fertilized egg of an ape… A monkey… A rat… An insect… If your Righteous Punishments From on High are DIFFERENT in these cases, then WHY? WHERE do the differences come from? And what gives YOU (or the 51% of the voters) the right to punish the rest of us?
Never, ever, have I gotten any serious answers, when I pose these questions, about what the PUNISHMENTS should be! (Could it be that the fanatics don’t want us to focus on THEIR obsession, which is their smug and self-righteous “punishment boners”?). Also, the unwillingness to answer questions is strongly indicative of authoritarianism. At the root here is the unmistakable attitude of “Because I said so, peons! Do NOT question your Rulers!”
Sqrlsy is a homeless crackhead pedophile.
Pay him no mind.
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Let the TDS flow through you…
His followers truly are deranged. Look at the hate, anger, and raw emotion that criticism of their god emperor draws from them. They would murder the author if he was in the same room. Tear him limb from limb. That is not rational.
Do you have an actual example of your claim?
The first 2 comments.
At least they aren’t weak, drunken pussies that make threats then slither away like little bitches.
Sheesh Sarc, I didn’t know his followers were that bad. Though to be fair, I didn’t know Sullum had any followers.
You leftists really hate it when people fight back,
Boaf sydes!
Wow, what an AWESOME refutation of the facts and links in this article! What a ringing endorsement of The Donald!
PS, what about Putin? He does it too, so it’s all OK!
Lesseeee…… Obama, Biden, Hillary, head of the DoJ and FBI, and others conspired to defraud the electorate and make Hillary President.
Trump made a lot of speeches and cajoled a lot of officials and never actually got anywhere.
One of these is not like the other.
And no one ever actually got anywhere, when trying to persuade Trump and His Trumpanzees Gone Apeshit to GIVE UP THEIR LIES about Trump’s Stolen Erections, which have now become religion… Part of the Official Dogma of the Republican Church! Trump will give UP this lie, as soon ass He develops a desire for truth, peace, and reconciliation… Which is to say, never!
I have to agree. They are equating speeches and discussions by a known hothead with actions that put these ideas into motion.
Additionally, Trump was getting pushback. His will was not law, and any misstep was reported on. With his opposition, the media runs cover more than anything else.
Finally, you aren’t crazy if they actually are out to get you. The Durham Report is the latest in a long line of evidence that there really was a criminal conspiracy by many parts of the government that stretched long before Trump was elected. When the people who literally are sworn to uphold the law are arrayed against you outside of the law, of course you will not trust them. However, that’s hardly distain for the idea of law, just its corrupted systems.
Will you at least admit that Biden is as bad as Trump or does the equivalency only work one way? And are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? Do you really want something different or just the same old shit from lifelong politicians? Do you ultimately agree with PJ O’Rourke that you’d prefer somebody like Hillary Clinton who is crazy within the normal parameters?
Biden is worse than Trump. He admitted things he put into action was unconstitutional and he did it anyway.
https://townhall.com/columnists/allenwest/2022/08/30/bidens-unconstitutional-and-delusional-decrees-mandates-and-orders-n2612426
How many millions of illegal aliens will it take to make Reason happy?
“Biden is worse than Trump…”
And we are far more worse of as a result of Biden’s election in every measurable condition,
Further, regardless of TDS-addled steaming piles of lefty shit like Sullum (stuff your TDS up your ass, Sullum; your head wants company), we enjoyed benefits from Trump’s time in office which he hadn’t since Silent Cal.
No way Trump is half as bad as Biden! We were respected, stronger, energy independent, low inflation, growing salaries, and had more opportunities. If it was for the partisan, divisive, controlling, lying, deceiving, hypocritical, incompetent, and indoctrinated media, America wouldn’t be in this mess!
But, but, mean tweets!
I don’t know who “Reason” writers are still trying to convince about the “Orange Man Bad” narrative – certainly not libertarians. If you’re trying to convince Trump supporters that Trump abusing Executive authority is “just as bad” as Biden abusing Executive authority, it’s not gonna happen because Trump supporters WANT Trump to abuse Executive authority. Maybe we could convince Reason writers to stop wasting time on their obsession with Trump and refocus on the main problem: how can people who love liberty restore representative government (proportional representation in – the two-party system out, for example) because we’re not very good at changing the hearts and minds of voters who are increasingly forced into choices between Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dummer on their one, single issue.
“Orange Man Bad”?
Orange Man bad?!? He BAD, all right! He SOOO BAD, He be GOOD! He be GREAT! He Make America Great Again!
We KNOW He can Make America Great Again, because, as a bad-ass businessman, He Made Himself and His Family Great Again! He Pussy Grabber in Chief!
See The Atlantic article https://feedreader.com/observe/theatlantic.com/politics%252Farchive%252F2016%252F10%252Fdonald-trump-scandals%252F474726%252F%253Futm_source%253Dfeed/+view
“The Many Scandals of Donald Trump: A Cheat Sheet” or this one…
https://reason.com/2019/09/02/republicans-choose-trumpism-over-property-rights-and-the-rule-of-law/
He pussy-grab His creditors in 6 bankruptcies, His illegal sub-human workers ripped off of pay on His building projects, and His “students” in His fake Get-Rich-like-Me realty schools, and so on. So, He has a GREAT record of ripping others off! So SURELY He can rip off other nations, other ethnic groups, etc., in trade wars and border wars, for the benefit of ALL of us!!!
All Hail to THE Pussy Grabber in Chief!!!
Most of all, HAIL the Chief, for having revoked karma! What comes around, will no longer go around!!! The Donald has figured out that all of the un-Americans are SOOO stupid, that we can pussy-grab them all day, every day, and they will NEVER think of pussy-grabbing us right back!
Orange Man Bad-Ass Pussy-Grabber all right!
We CAN grab all the pussy, all the time, and NONE will be smart enough to EVER grab our pussies right back!
These voters simply cannot or will not recognize the central illusion of politics… You can pussy-grab all of the people some of the time, and you can pussy-grab some of the people all of the time, but you cannot pussy-grab all of the people all of the time! Sooner or later, karma catches up, and the others will pussy-grab you right back!
“All Hail to THE Pussy Grabber in Chief!!!”
But enough about Bill Clinton.
^
nuts
^ Nutless AND brainless!
Just mute sqirlsy. He’s crazy, but not in a fun way.
^^^ Nutless AND brainless!
Yeah, there is no reason to wade through the spastic asshole’s pile of shit in the hopes of finding anything at all.
Dude, lay off the meth.
What, twat, only people on METH are capable of seeing when they’re getting severely pussy-grabbed?
Here, JUST IN CASE ye have a CAPABLE intellect, try this on for size!
https://reason.com/2022/12/05/president-biden-wants-to-ban-semiautomatic-weapons-dream-on/
There are few fundamental, basic differences between the new Big Guy and the now-deposed, last Big Guy. Meet the new boss, same ass the old boss!
Other than the fact that they belong to different tribes, ONE thing comes to mind. Ass we can new see, the new one still sometimes PRETENDS to respect the USA Constitution, but the old one has dropped even that pretense!
Twiddle-Twaddle Dee: “I respect the USA Constitution, EXCEPT when it gets in my way ass I try to declare all votes NOT for MEEEE, to be fraudulent.”
Twiddle-Twaddle Dumb: “I respect the USA Constitution, EXCEPT when it gets in my way ass I try to declare your rights to own weapons to be fraudulent.”
Sad to say, today’s flavors of conservaturd idiots can NOT see this basic principle at ALL!!! They think “let’s change the laws to enable us to pussy-grab the enemy, and the new laws will NEVER be used by them, to pussy-grab us right back”! So we’re faced with politicians milking this shit to no end, and pussy-grabbing us ALL, from BOTH sides, abusing us by our own power-lust and self-righteousness!
Hey conservatives!!! How about a “Grand Compromise”? Y’all give up your “abortion boners”, in exchange for lib-tards giving up their “gun boners”?
This looks like a prime opportunity for me to explain a few things I’ve learned on this planet, while becoming a geezer. A few things, that is, about human nature, and excessive self-righteousness, tribalism, the “rush to judge” others, and the urge to punish.
“Team R” politician: “The debt is too large, and government is too powerful. If you elect ME, I will FIX that budget-balance problem SOON! But, first things first! THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE ARE GETTING ABORTIONS!!! We must make the liberals CRY for their sins! AFTER we fix that RIGHT AWAY, we’ll get you your budget balanced and low taxes!”
“Team D” politician: “The debt is too large, and I’ll get that fixed soon, I promise you, if you elect ME! First, the more important stuff, though: THOSE PEOPLE OVER THERE ARE OWNING GUNS!!! We must PROTECT the American People from guns and gun-nuts!!! AFTER we fix that RIGHT AWAY, we’ll get our budgets balanced!”
And then we gripe and gripe as Government Almighty grows and grows, and our freedoms shrink and shrink. And somehow, the budget never DOES get balanced!
Now LISTEN UP for the summary: Parasites and politicians (but I repeat myself) PUSSY GRAB US ALL by grabbing us by… Guess what… by our excessive self-righteousness, tribalism, the “rush to judge” others, and the urge to PUNISH-PUNISH-PUNISH those “wrong” others! Let’s all STOP being such fools, and STOP allowing the politicians OF BOTH SIDES from constantly pussy-grabbing us all, right in our urge to… Pussy-grab the “enemies”, which is actually ALL OF US (and our freedoms and our independence, our ability to do what we want, without getting micro-managed by parasites)!!!
Shorter and sweeter: The pussy-grabbers are actually pussy-grabber-grabbers, grabbing us all in our pussy-grabbers. Let us all (as best as we can) AMPUTATE our OWN nearly-useless-anyways pussy-grabbers, and the pussy-grabber-grabbers will NOT be able to abuse us all NEARLY ass much ass these assholes are doing right now!
You people are too stupid and too self-righteous to even see your stupidity and self-righteousness. I pity the fools! Keep right on letting the parasitical politicians grab you by Your Perfect Pussy-Grabbers, then, You Perfect FOOLS, and SUFFER the effects of your foolishness, till MAYBE one day ye will wake up!!!
Meth is his only friend.
“…If you’re trying to convince Trump supporters that Trump abusing Executive authority is “just as bad” as Biden abusing Executive authority, it’s not gonna happen because Trump supporters WANT Trump to abuse Executive authority…”
If you want to make a public ass or yourself, post bullshit like this.
Oh, and MWAocdoc? Fuck off and die; the world is suffering from entirely too many TDS-addled shit-piles already.
how can people who love liberty restore representative government (proportional representation in – the two-party system out, for example) because we’re not very good at changing the hearts and minds of voters who are increasingly forced into choices between Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dummer on their one, single issue.
Ah, when I made the comment about you being in favor of lifelong/career politicians with the implication of continuing the status quo, I didn’t realize those were things you actually stood for and thought Nardz was just being snarky.
So, you actually are one of the “long, slow march” libertarians advocating for the Neo-Con/Neo-Lib TPD that got us into and kept us in Afghanistan (and Ukraine) because leaders who do things like negotiate a peaceful withdrawal from Afghanistan or orchestrate the Abraham Accords are too powerful, uncouth, and unpredictable. Congress working across the aisle, duly passing the AUMF is your idea of libertarianism.
The strongest criticism of Biden’s authoritarian tendencies is a mere setup for an attack on Trump.
Fascinating.
Biden wants to force massive wealth redistribution (“armed-theft privileges”) as a “King” and your counter argument is holding documents in a locked closet???????
Talk about a PATHETICALLY desperate attempt….
Sadly; Everyone has seen this kind of BS repeatedly from leftards.
“but, but, but Trump looked at the cookie crumb!!!”
PROJECTION and DEFLECTION…….. The most prominent trait of the leftard.
Emperor Trump ALSO disobeyed the USA Cunts-Titus-Tuition about WHO (the POTUS or Congress) controls the funds!
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/06/26/appeals-court-trump-wrongly-diverted-25-billion-in-milcon-funds-for-border-wall/
Your Military
Appeals court: Trump wrongly diverted $2.5 billion in military construction funds for border wall
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/trump-planning-to-divert-additional-72-billion-in-pentagon-funds-for-border-wall/2020/01/13/59080a3a-363d-11ea-bb7b-265f4554af6d_story.html
Hardly just looking at cookie crumbs, Oh Great Deflector and Projector!
A National Security wall from military defense funding!!! OMG… /s
That’s definitely the same as wealth redistribution (“armed-theft privileges”) as a “King”… /s
Enter PATHETIC desperate attempt #2.
Did you even READ the article? There’s more there, such as…
“Trump’s disregard for legal constraints on presidential power was also apparent in his response to an audience question about his unilateral ban on bump stocks, a gun accessory that facilitates rapid firing. Two federal appeals courts have ruled that the ban was illegal.”
Gun-grabbing… TOTES evil when not-my-tribe’s Emperor does shit!!! Just WONDERFUL when MY tribe’s Emperor does shit!
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/398436-dems-press-trump-on-bump-stocks-ban/
All at the whims of Demonrats.
One just loves how Democrats push the BS (Cares Act as well) and then blame the Republican for not blocking their BS.
“My enemies MADE me do it! They took away my free will! Mind cuntrol, I’m a-tellin’ ya!”
“The Devil made me do it” will work with some folks, too, butt that one is getting old and tired…
“but, but, but Trump looked at the cookie crumb!!!”
Stormy Daniels sure is one crumby cookie, butt, The Donald did FAR more than look at her!
Until the 5th Circuit this year ruled that the ATF declaring a bump stock a machine gun previously 2 other circuit courts upheld the ATF’s interpretation following the Chevron Doctrine. I know these rulings incorrectly used Chevron Deference; since, the consequences of possessing a bump stock falls under criminal law. Chevron Deference only applies to civil law. When the consequences of violating a regulation is criminal the proper judicial rule for judges to use is the “Rule of Lenity” which is the polar opposite of Chevron Deference. Some how after NYSRPA v Bruen many federal judges have discovered that many ATF regulations that are “interpretations” of the NFA, GCA & FAOPA have criminal consequences for violating them. Therefore the ones that aren’t willing to sandbag the judicial process that SHIT CANS the regulations that don’t follow the text of the enabling statutes.
Uh, OK.
Trump’s Disregard for the Rule of Law Is at Least As Bad As Biden’s
Tell it to everyone left on the tarmac in Kabul, Sullum.
So does this actually say ‘Senile Man Bad’, or is it the leftist way of saying ‘Look over there!’?
Someone please explain the difference between a Left Libertarian and a fucking Democrat
It would be a waste of time and effort to explain because you wouldn’t understand. Just call anyone who criticizes Trump a leftist. That was you’ll keep your friends.
Poor sarc.
Funny thing here is everyone you called a cultist has criticized trump often. So that’s not the issue. But you know this.
Keep crying, you sniveling little bitch pussy.
Neocons hate Trump too.
One wears actual masks as a metaphor. The other wears actual metaphors as a mask.
You know Jacob. If you’re going to claim the PRA is the most sacred law of the land then you should at least mention the follow on court cases like the Clinton sock drawer case which had courts give the presidents great deference in deciding what a record was. Or that the PRA doesn’t require every copy ever made, just a copy as NARA was doing with Obama.
But ignoring these issues just makes your article look like a pathetic reach to yell at Trump for something. At least you didn’t scream Nuclear Secrets again.
I also notice that sullum dares not Wade into the Biden family bank accounts here. Then again Sullum was Reasons point man on the Trump russia conspiracy and his world is falling apart. That’s what this article seems to be in response to more than anything. A reflexive defense for why Jacob was right to push lies and narratives for 5 years.
Sullum has a quota to maintain for his democrat masters. He doesn’t have time for journalism, logic, or facts.
HOW DARE REASON CRITICIZE TRUMP! LEFTISTS! THEY’RE ALL LEFTISTS!
Poor sarc.
Sure he fell for 5 years of lies about Trump. But it isnt his fault. Once again it is everyone who realized the lies that are the issue.
Sarc is still running away from me. If we ever met, he would cry and beg like a wino with the shakes. Or basically, him.
Only Trump is a TRUE Non-Leftist!
It is only by The Grace of Trump that we, too, can be fallen but Forgiven Non-Leftists! The keys are to let Trump into your heart, and to BELIEVE in His Stolen Erections!!! This FACT (NOT theory) of His Stolen Erections? You must stoke it and stroke it! THEN you, too, can becum a Forgiven Non-Leftist! His Stolen Erections are freely GIVEN unto all who will willingly accept them! NOT just to Stormy Daniels! So cum on down to the podium NOW, and don’t forget to bring your credit cards, ass well ass your heart and soul! (Well OK, and your Vaseline too!)
Trump was, and is, an ass. Ditto Biden. And Obama. And Bush. To what degree, and in which way, may vary a bit, but I do detect a pattern…
(and yes, the list could be much longer)
You’re full of shit:
1) DeVos
2) Gorsuch
3) Kavanaugh
4) Ajit Pai, end net price fixing
5) Major reduction in the growth of regulations.
6) Dow +35%
7) Unemployment at 3.0% (!)
8) The US Manufacturing Index soared to a 33 year high
9) Got repeal of the national medical insurance mandate.
10) Withdrawal from Paris climate agreement.
11) Not sure about the tax reform; any “reform” that leaves me subisdizing Musk’s customers is not what I hoped for. Let Musk run a company for once. But cutting taxes is good.
12) Pulled support for the $13 billion Hudson Tunnel project.
13) More than 16,000 jobs have been cut from the federal leviathan
14) MIGHT have a deal to de-nuke NK.
15) Killed moonbeam’s choo-choo
16) Supported and signed First Step Act.
17) “Right to Try” act
And finally:
18) Still making lefties steppin and fetchin like their pants is on fire and their asses are catchin’
To repeat, I did not vote for the guy; he’s a blow-hard and a loose cannon, but by accident or design, he’s doing better than any POTUS since Silent Cal.
Care to reply, TDS-addled shit-pile?
Gee, I guess the cat’s got the asshole Jefferson’s Ghost’s tongue. Or maybe the asshole Jefferson’s Ghost might be examining his bullshit claims.
Maybe.
The deep state, IC, the 44th president while in office, the 42nd president and his wife’s campaign, the VP who is now in office as the 46th president, multiple senators, British agents and officials, Australian officials, multiple US senators, multiple US representatives, the media industrial complex, the military industrial complex, multiple federal judges, and others related to the above- all, to varying extent knowingly, lied in order to sabotage an elected president’s term by framing him with a 100% fictional story that was also intended to stoke conflict with the only nation that has more nuclear weapons than the US/NATO.
It was, BY FAR, the greatest crime in American history.
Tied with, but inseparable from really, the 2020 covid-Floyd-election coup.
Get hung from a lamppost you totalitarian tumor.
By writing this article in terms of Biden and Trump the author, Mr. Sullum, generates a large response that obscures the problem. The problem is the overuse of executive orders, which I have and will continue to argue is a result of a lazy scared Congress. A Congress that isn’t doing its job budgeting or addressing issues of concern leaves the issues to be addressed by executives officers and in doing so under cutting the idea of representative government.
What you don’t understand is that when Trump does it, whatever “it” is, it’s totally different than when Biden does the same thing. Because fuck you, that’s why. See the difference?
Didn’t mean to flag for review, operator error
It doesn’t do anything. Except you won’t be able to see the comment after you refresh.
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“The problem is the overuse of executive orders, which I have and will continue to argue is a result of a lazy scared Congress.”
Bingo! Also this: Congress (of both parties) is smart enough to realize that their enemy-tribesman ass ass-POTUS will soon enough be replaced by THEIR tribesman ass ass-POTUS! And then it will be THEIR turn to abuse us all! And the POTUS, and not the individual Congress-slime, will take the heat! So why ruin a good thing?
Meanwhile, most of the voters are ENTIRELY TOO STUPID to realize that… Surprise, surprise… Any and all pussy-grabbing that is good for the goose, will soon enough be good for the gander!
The problem is the President has no business unilaterally addressing it. If Congress can’t do it, it doesn’t get done. The President can’t just step in and do it the way he wants.
What you are saying is nice in theory but does not work in practice. Our Constitution work by the balance of three branches of government. The failure of one part to act creates a vacuum that other branches will fill. Note I am not saying that Congress should act in one or the other, but simply that it must act or it will be supplanted.
During his town hall on CNN last week, the former president showed a disregard for the rule of law and separation of powers at least as troubling as Biden’s.
Let’s see: Biden has deliberately and flagrantly ignored his oath of fealty to the Constitution with regards to property rights and evictions, guns, student loans, the border, national defense and just about everything else he touches, including classified documents.
Trump…kept some classified documents.
If you find the two men’s behavior as executive equally troubling, you are an unprincipled hack.
President Trump kept some documents that he, using his power as president, declassified. They were stored in a locked room in his home.
Senator Joe Biden, without the power of the President, kept some documents. This is illegal. They were stored haphazardly.
Vice President Joe Biden, still lacking the power of the president, kept more documents. These were also stored haphazardly. And this action was also illegal.
See the difference?
They don’t. Because Trump! Somehow.
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Not so haphazardly; they were accessible to a number of Communist Chinese; totally unrelated to certain documented bank deposits.
I hope you’re getting paid well for this, Jake. Because it’s absolutely demeaning and pathetic. The journalistic equivalent of some “white monkey” job in China.
Here you have it boys and girls; Jacob Sullum said Biden disregards the rule of law!
Biden or Trump, which is the most dangerous political gangster?
Kw-26: Most TDS-addled shit.
Trump’s “abuses of power” consist of trying to undo Obama’s executive orders (why does Sullum skip those in his “analysis”?) and implementing a fraction of the COVID countermeasures that Democrats demanded, even as they crucified him for not doing for more.
Enter Jacob “Trump is the worst!” Sullum.
This is not a website for principled libertarians; it is a website for extraordinarily dishonest far-left concern trolls.
But… but… wokeness! Political correctness! Doesn’t Reason understand that being scolded by smug woke people is such a terrible experience that we need to reelect Trump no matter how terrible he is? Why don’t Reason’s writers understand that giving the nuclear codes to a narcissistic man-baby is a completely rational response to woke people making society unpleasant?
Sure, it’s true that Trump did absolutely nothing to stop wokeness when he was in office. There were plenty of laws and regulations he could have reformed, but he did nothing. But just because he spent 4 years twiddling his thumbs last time, doesn’t mean he won’t do something about wokeness this time! And his election definitely won’t make woke people get angry and tighten the screws like it did last time!
Reason needs to understand that something needs to be down about out-of-control wokeness and political correctness. Reelecting Trump is something. Therefore, we should do it, even though it was actively counterproductive the last time we did.
I don’t consider a De-Regulation committee and tax-cuts ‘actively counterproductive’ because I don’t think MORE Gov-Gun Power is the answer in a land founded on principles of land of the free.
For the sake of argument, let’s accept that your title premise is the truth and Trump and Biden are equally lawless.
Given those circumstances, Trump is infinitely preferable to Biden. Because Trump will have his every statement aggressively fact-checked, and he will have an endless number of career bureaucrats willing to undermine him by refusing to carry out his orders or by leaking details of his actions to the press.
Compare this to Biden, who receives cover from the media for just about everything he does and has an army of bureaucratic flying monkeys willing to carry out his whims.
“Trump’s Disregard for the Rule of Law Is at Least As Bad As Biden’s”
Doesn’t hold a candle to the shit-pile Sullum’s raging case of TDS.
What do you expect? The justice system works very differently when one has the ability to hire battalions of lawyers.
The other thing to consider is that if Trump is guilty of anything worthy of all this opprobrium, surely our soi disant elites would have found something after all these years. They’re getting desperate. The recent judicial theater in New York was accomplished by rewriting New York laws then applying the law ex post facto. It won’t withstand judicial review and it’s giving Trump media coverage in the meantime.
I don’t particularly like the National Emergencies Act, but the fact remains that, under it, Trump’s diversion of Defense department funds to build a defensive wall on our border with Mexico actually was fully legal.
So it’s not in any way comparable to Biden’s decision to forgive billions in student loans without any statutory authority.
And if you’re going to claim that building a defensive wall on the border isn’t a military purpose, well, I’ll just have to point out that you’re stark raving nuts.
Neither Trump nor Biden are suited to be president and neither will ever receive my vote.
I do however view Trump to be less of a threat simply because there is a large amount of institutional opposition and a overtly hostile corporate media to keep him in check.
With Biden you have institutional protection and a sycophantic corporate media. Biden is without any doubt much more of a threat.
Yes, Trump is not an ideal candidate and is a narcissist who probably feels that he is above the law. There is a degree of real honesty hidden in the over powering essence of the Trump ego.
However Biden is the very epitome of what is wrong in politics. A near lifetime politician who has taken advantage of the office for personal gain. If you look back at the worst injustices of the past few decades and you find Biden as a central advocate. Biden is a warmonger deep down to the core quick to leap on any opportunity for personal gain.
It is apparent that Trump is not above the law, but also that Biden is effectively above the law due to the protection provide by sympathetic institutions and a sycophantic corporate media.
Your examples and citations are AWESOME! Because I said so! And because “Because I said so!” is THE most awesome libertarian, NON-authoritarian attitude EVER!!!!
Pablo Escabar?
By ‘reluctantly’, do you mean ‘obediently’ and ‘enthusiastically’?
Are you kidding? Sullum would dress up like a little girl and take a shower with Biden.