By Lambert Strether of Corrente
Very patient readers, I spent the day recovering from a bout of food poisoning I got last night (which was just that, luckily), so this Water Cooler is an open thread. However, I will include the decision of the Supreme Court regarding the immunity of the President. Also, last night before I got fired I intended to write a post discussing the Democratic Party and Biden’s decision-making process regarding the continuation of his campaign. If any of you have facts (not hot) about that topic, please leave them in the comments. –lambert PS Also, Wednesday is a travel day for me, and I may or may not have problems, so I’ll try to make tomorrow’s Water Cooler a little longer to cover things I missed, especially the Covid.
Bird Song of the Day
Common Loon, Schoolcraft, Michigan, United States. No, not planning at all!
A quick, poorly thought-out reaction:
Trump v. United States, Certiorari in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (PDF) [Supreme Court of the United States].
An obvious start to the legal age, I should have thought?
“Judicial Trump cannot be immune from prosecution” [SCOTUSblog].
In a historic ruling, a divided Supreme Court on Monday ruled that former presidents cannot be prosecuted for actions that affect the core powers of their office, and that they are at least presumed to be indifferent to their broader official actions.
The decision left open the possibility that the charges brought against former President Donald Trump by Special Counsel Jack Smith – alleging that Trump conspired to overturn the results of the 2020 election – could go forward to the extent that the charges are based on his private conduct. , instead of his legal actions.
– an investigation that, even if it leads to the conclusion that the charges can proceed, will almost certainly delay any trial in the case, which was scheduled to begin on March 4, 2024 but is currently suspended.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that the president is “not above the law.” But Justice Sonia Sotomayor, in a dissent joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, responded that if a future president “abuses legal power for personal gain, the criminal law that we must all obey will not back us up.”
According to the various criminal charges pending against Trump:
Some good news about the SCOTUS opinion:
1. No immunity from unlawful acts; oppressive government officials, bogus voter system, public statements made as a potential candidate;
2. Immunity to legal acts is only presumptive. Behavior must fall within the “limited and limited…– Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) July 1, 2024
“The Nixon Interviews” [WikiPedia]. “In part 3, Frost asked Nixon if the president could do something illegal in certain situations like anti-war groups and others if he decided it would be ‘in the interest of the country or something’. Nixon replied: ‘,’ by definition.[24][25]” (note that Wikipedia adds in “definition”). • Stoller comments:
With a kick the Supreme Court legalized Watergate.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 1, 2024
And speaking of special prosecutors:
With a kick the Supreme Court legalized Watergate.
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) July 1, 2024
It seems like a contradiction:
Therefore, the agencies cannot act even if they are directed by the congress but the president can do whatever he wants, regardless of what the law says.
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) July 1, 2024
On the other hand, does the Executive Branch have the authority to take all the powers that the Supreme Court recently took from the regulatory agencies by abolishing the Chevron Doctrine. Surely they couldn’t set up OMB to do that, just two or three orders of magnitude?
Plant contact details: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] Strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) figure out how to send me a check if you don’t like PayPal and (b) figure out how to send pictures of plants. Vegetables are good! Fungi, algae, and corals are considered venerable plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please put it at the beginning of your mail in brackets: (so). If not, I will hide them by using your initials. Check out the previous Water Cooler (with a plant) here. From Teton Time:
To compensate, there are many plants!
Teton Time writes:
The children and I have a habit of collecting seeds from the plants we find when hiking in the forests here. Pollinators like to use them and they do it very quickly.
We collected these seeds a few years ago. I have a place to test to see what conditions of light and soil, etc. these plants like. It is often very frustrating and there are many failures.
We collected some of these daisy heads from the wild I think about three years ago. You know they’re tough when they survive your attempts to get them off the test beds. I couldn’t believe how good they looked on the bed in front of our house. The thing about native plants – once they’re gone they’re beautiful. In fact, the work often turns and drags them down when they are out of bounds.
After another 20-30 years I should have this place. Committed to all natural and native plants. It’s my thing. A lot of work but it will be worth it one day. I have also planted peonies and poppies which are now in full bloom. These are heirloom plants that have been put together by me. Their seed is true. However, these are not indigenous. But they both do very well here. Pollinators love wildflowers much better than these man-made creatures. Is there a lesson there?
Students: Water Cooler is an independent business not is put together by NC’s annual fundraiser. So if you see a link you particularly like, or something you can’t see anywhere else, please don’t hesitate to express your appreciation in a tangible way. Remember, a tip is a tip! A generally positive response both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. If I don’t get donations for three or four days I get worried. Obviously, ongoing donations help me with expenses, and I contribute to that trick when I set fundraising goals:
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If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] Strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I’ll give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!
