In the summer of 1777, some very bright, very dedicated people cobbled together the US Constitution. It was considered imperfect at best, because there were so many compromises in it. In fact, some of the writers expected it not to last more than 25 years.
One of the items was the Presidential pardon. They figured that, although President could never be a king, it would be nice to give him the power of a pardon should the Justice System fail and innocent people need help.
Sweet, huh?
In 1985 Mitch McConnell III became Kentucky’s Senator. He is the longest serving Senate party leader in US History: Senate minority leader from 2007 – 2015; Senate majority leader from 2015-2021; Senate minority leader from 2021-2024. During those 40 years he has successfully pursued a life-long goal of filling the Judiciary with conservative judges, including the six out of nine in the current Supreme Court.
It’s not the Roberts Supreme Court; it’s the McConnell Supreme Court.
In 1991, Clarence Thomas, supported by McConnell, became the second African American justice of the Supreme Court after Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Justice and one of the best justices in US history.
Thomas’ confirmation was challenged by Professor Anita Hill of Brandeis University who accused him of sexual harassment. The Senate, led by Joe Biden, defended Thomas and crushed Professor Hill. During his tenure, Thomas has accepted free vacations and free loans, $2.4 million so far, with another $1.8 million probable.
Thomas is no Thurgood Marshall.
McConnell backed him in 1991, as he did Brett Kavanaugh in 2018, who was also accused of sexual harassment, this time by another professor, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. (Actually Ford accused Kavanaugh of sexual “assault”, not “harassment. I know, tomato – tomato, right?)
Clearly integrity has been less of a requirement for McConnell than a conservative bent.
In 2010, the McConnell Supreme Court ruled that restricting corporations or unions from donating to political campaigns restricted free speech, in effect saying that corporations and unions (with a few or thousands of workers) had the same rights as individual Americans.
Big Money has run politics ever since.
On July 1, 2024, Justices John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett, all appointed during Mitch McConnell’s terms, ruled that a president has immunity from prosecution for criminal acts.
We now have the most corrupt, money grubbing President in history. Between 140,000 people (claimed by the Trump administration) and around 40,000 people (according to news reports) have been deported this year, in defiance of the Due Process Clause of the Constitution. The amount of money collected by Trump from foreign leaders as well as US billionaires, in defiance of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, is unknown, but large, including his new Air Force One, Crypto profits, Gold Card visa program, etc…
So, to review:
1) Like most contemporary politicians, national and local, Trump got elected by Big Money, this despite no political experience, a record of six bankruptcies, racism, constant lies (30,000 in his first term alone), etc…
2) The McConnell Supreme Court has given Trump, as President, immunity for any crime, for example: sending 40 thousand people to San Salvador prisons without due process.
3) Trump can order his underlings to commit any crime and simply pardon them if they’re caught, for example: Jan 6. insurrection.
Only kings and dictators can do that, right?