zlacker

All that matters is what the supreme court believes that the constitution and laws mean.

It's true that if you applied prior judicial standards that its crystal clear the constitution and bill of rights extend beyond just protecting citizens. Same for the law. However, with a lot of the recent rulings it seems that now "might makes right" and "if the president does it, it's not illegal".

Both the judicial and legislative bodies have ceded nearly all their power to the executive. We're in for a bumpy ride.

>>cogman+(OP)
This started following 9/11 and every administration since has pushed hard for growing executive power. I agree it's sad the supreme court can be battered to slowly whittle down some fundamental ideas America was founded on.

>>dmix+2P
9/11 super-charged it, but the project of putting all power in the presidency started with Nixon. "If the president does it, it's not illegal".

Reagan ramped it up by pulling some similar moves to what Trump is doing. The Chevron doctrine came from Reagan admin running the EPA into the ground.

>>cogman+(OP)
Close — All that matters is what Leonard Leo believes. That’s _his_ Supreme Court majority[1], and this is their happy ending — five of those justices were educated in his Federalist Society pipeline, vetted and selected through networks hand‑built by Leo… riding the Trump wave to judicial and political dominance, despite the turbulence[2] [1] https://www.npr.org/2024/11/24/nx-s1-5199049/federalist-soci...

[2] https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/30/trump-federalist-so...