• IronCorgi@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    Seriously anyone remember the issue with Emoluments? They were specifically banned in the constitution, and the Government was sued over it, and then the Supreme court sat on it until Trump was no longer president and then the supreme ruled it moot. Republicans will not play by the rules.

    • cogman@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      The issue we have is that the checks for a bad actor are impeachment and elections. The founders thought “surely, elected officials would put country over party”. They were wrong there, so now impeachment is ineffective.

      The founders thought “surely, voters wouldn’t elect an immortal leader”. Again, dead wrong.

      Voting is really the only effective check at this point, which is why Republicans try to undermine it at every turn. Vote in every election!

      • teft@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        I hope you mean immoral which while being really bad would not be as bad as an immortal ruler.

        • HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org
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          1 year ago

          I strongly disagree.

          Most presidents have lived, at most, a few decades after the conclusion of their regime. I believe Carter is now the champion in that category, at 43 years. This is the upper bounds on their consequences. As far as we know about life after death, anything that jumps the track after that is no longer a problem for them. This creates a tunnel vision-- it’s very hard for mortal leaders to consider “this has a payback or cost structure over 50, 100, 500 years.”

          On the other hand, an immortal is stuck here. He’ll be the one with searing lung pain for millennia until the ecosystem heals from a fossil-fuel binge, he’ll be watching any century-scale projects he invested in crumble as society destabilizes around him. This would impact his goals and decision making process-- his self interest would favour stewardship and long-term stability.

          TBH, I really want to see some sort of take on “Vampire runs for President on a pro-ecology platform.” It’s no zanier than anything else in this season’s Crunchyroll catalogue.

      • ScrollinMyDayAway@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        If only we could vote out a Supreme Court member. But ironically those that sit on the highest court in the country are held accountable by nobody, and serve for life.

        • aidan@lemmy.worldM
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          1 year ago

          That was intentional in the design of the supreme court. It was made to be the least democratic branch of government because it was made to hold the current majority to the standards of the past. Which is what a constitution is.