Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie

No, Mr. Franklin, we can’t keep the republic you gave us

At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government they had crafted. He famously replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.”

For nearly 250 years, that’s what we did. Yesterday, all of that changed. By granting the president (any president, what is true for former President Donald J. Trump holds true for current President Joe Biden and all presidents from this day forward) broad immunity to prosecution for “official” acts, we turned our presidency into a monarchy.

Truth be told, I think presidents should have immunity for actual official acts. I think they already have that. There has been no instance where a president or former president has been accused of illegality for performing his official duties. While I disagreed with then-President George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, for instance, it was perfectly legal. (I bring that up because there were people on the left who viewed him as a war criminal for that act).

From the SCOTUS decision:

Under our constitutional structure of separated powers, the nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive…