President Unbound
The deepest and darkest historical meaning of Trump v. United States
I haven’t written anything yet about the Supreme Court’s landmark decision about presidential immunity. That’s partly because I was traveling when the decision was handed down, and the first thing I wanted to write about this week was Joe Biden’s stubborn refusal to step aside in the presidential race. But I also wanted to take a bit of time to figure out what I thought about Trump v. United States.
My initial response was dominated by hostility to the over-the-top rhetoric of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent and the similar unhinged tone struck by numerous center-left analysts. The majority opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts couldn’t possibly be as bad as these critics were alleging, could it?
Two weeks out I’m inclined to say the majority decision in Trump v. United States is indeed very bad—though also, perhaps, exactly what one would expect given present circumstances.
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