Friday, July 26, 2024

Trump Vance Campaign Crushed by Couch and Dolphin Memes

Memes are a part of our culture now. Some have become so iconic that they are now part of the cultural zeitgeist. Think "distracted boyfriend" from 2015. Then there's "change my mind" and "Drake." Now JD Vance, Trump's pick for VP, has supplied "JD Vance had sex with couch" and "dolphin porn." Look, JD Vance is supposed to be a smart person. Supposed to be. But he's an idiot when it comes to politics, and he's going to keep stepping in it. I'm enjoying it, though, and I think we will see more classic memes about Vance.










Tuesday, July 2, 2024

Does the SCOTUS opinion in Trump v. United States mean electronic evidence that is a so-called "private record" of the President or his advisors is inadmissible at trial??

Yesterday the Supreme Court laid waste to the Constitution when it ruled the President has absolute immunity for official acts and the presumption of immunity for unofficial acts. And "private records" of the President or his advisors as to any potentially illegal unofficial acts is not admissible at trial. In other words, this preemptively excludes oral statements, electronic data, and documentary data. What this appears to mean is phone evidence or any other electronic data tied to the President or his advisors cannot be admitted. Ever. It makes it almost impossible to prove the President did anything illegal, and it means the President has, essentially, absolute immunity. This is not hyperbole. 

Impeachment is now virtually impossible. Even if it were possible, conviction would be impossible. It circumvents the Constitution and strips the impeachment power held by Congress. 

With respect to evidence, the Supreme Court said, "Testimony or private records of the President or his advisers probing such conduct may not be admitted as evidence at trial. Pp. 30–32." I don't know how the Supreme Court reached this conclusion. 

So, electronic data may matter to the rest of us. But it doesn't matter to the President or his advisors as he or she commits crimes. 

The rule of law is dead.