What now?

Did you know that there are only 4,400 words in the original U.S. Constitution?

And not a single one is the word "immunity." Nor "democracy" for that matter. Or even the word "God." You can't find them. Not there.

I bring this up because this past Monday the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in a stunning 6-3 conservative majority opinion that our presidents now have total immunity in the core powers of their office for "official" acts (as opposed to "private" acts) that they might commit while serving in office. SCOTUS left it up to the lower courts to decide between what is private and what is official and then quickly left town in their RVs. Cowards.

That ruling suggests presidents are now above the law, which essentially puts them above the Constitution, the very document that created and endowed their position in the first place. Go figure.

What is amazing to me is that prior to Monday's decision, there was no need for a Supreme Court ruling as to whether or not a president had total immunity in order to function. Andrew Jackson didn't need it during the civil rights abomination of The Trail of Tears. Abraham Lincoln didn't need it while bending (or ignoring) certain laws when conducting the Civil War. Franklin Roosevelt didn't need immunity when he created detention camps for Japanese-American citizens during World War II. Harry Truman didn't need it when dropping atomic bombs on Japan.

But Donald Trump needs it. Trump, an adjudicated rapist who is seeking a second term as president, also has 34 felony convictions that he would like to see disappear. So he took his case  – Trump v. The United States – to the Supreme Court, where five of the nine judges were appointed by presidents (including three by Trump in his first term) who lost the popular vote. Minority rule. Ain't democracy great?

There was no need to mention immunity in the Constitution because the Founders already established the Speech and Debate clause (Article I, Section 6, Clause 1), something which could confer immunity to congressmen, if they needed it. Presidents, however, supposedly were not granted immunity. Do you think there could be a reason why? Did the Framers know what they were doing? Does the Roberts court?

The actions of this seemingly partisan Roberts court seem to follow the road map set up by Project 2025, a 900-page manifesto composed by the Heritage Foundation that wants to reshape the government in its conservative image. It's already foaming at the mouth impatiently waiting for Trump (whose name is mentioned more than 300 times in the treatise) to win election in November so it can begin its fascist policies of power and control.

Two years ago the court overruled Roe v. Wade, eliminating a 50-year-old freedom for women to have autonomy over their own bodies and reproductive rights.

Last week, the court reversed a 40-year-old precedent in the Chevron case, which now curtails the power of federal agencies to interpret the laws. What stare decisis?

One by one, the guardrails of a government based on the separation of powers that worked so well for nearly 250 years are falling apart, enabled by a severely diminished and narrowly focused Supreme Court. 

We are moving ever closer to a single option of salvation: our vote. Read Project 2025. Educate yourselves. Save yourselves. Save democracy.