| Truth in politics | Politicians’ lies, even flagrant lies, no longer matter. Far more are fooled all of the time than Lincoln may have imagined. | |
| The Constitution’s Emoluments Clause | The Emoluments Clause is moot. There is no means for enforcement except impeachment, which is a dead letter. | |
| Impeachment | Partisan loyalty has made impeachment impossible, unless one party would have a majority in the House and a super-majority in the Senate, in which case, as some would use it for revenge, it would be a great danger. | |
| Belief in fair elections | Unfair state election laws promote disbelief. Many now believe that if their favored candidate loses, the election must have been unfair. | |
| Peaceful transfer of power | Now that the expectation of peaceful transfer of power is eroded, it can no longer be taken for granted | |
| Campaign finance laws | If violated by a successful Presidential candidate, violations can’t be prosecuted. | |
| Right to privacy | See the Dobbs v Jackson opinion. | |
| No one is above the law. | Michael Cohen went to prison, but his co-conspirator went free. Presidents and perhaps others can now be presumed to have no fear of trial, conviction, and punishment. | |
| Belief that Americans won’t tolerate corruption. | We have seen that a shameless President can find and appoint corrupt subordinates without limit. | |
| Respect for the Supreme Court | Reportedly at an all time low. |
Elections this year could establish the Trump Administrations performance as the new normal.
New NY 23rd 
This is a sadly accurate and powerful indictment of the lingering damage of the trump presidency.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, in his Memoir Unthinkable, covers the Emoluments Clause at length. A former Constitutional Law professor, he believed that Trump’s early abuse of it was egregious enough to demand Congressional action, but he couldn’t persuade the Dem. leadership that people would care enough about it to give it the attention it deserved. What do you think?
LikeLike
Meh,
From another web site-
M.U. in Seattle, WA, writes: Rant from a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat: My utter disgust and contempt for this ruling can only be directed—not at the Republicans or even the Supreme Court—but purely at the feet of… the Democrats. What have the Democrats been doing or accomplishing for the past few decades? Not much! This is no surprise as the Republicans have made no secret of their plans time and time again; and time and time again they outmaneuver the Democrats out of sheer force of will, playing the long game and utter shamelessness. Republicans put lots of resources in their state party apparatus, the RSLC, and have effectively gained trifectas in many more states than they had before. The Democrats have the DLCC, which is woefully underfunded! Democrats would rather throw tens of millions of dollars to un-winnable races, and that’s maddening!
Republicans beat Democrats to the punch in redistricting in 2010 and the Democrats never saw it coming. The Republicans have the Heritage Foundation that personally grooms would-be justices for them! Do the Democrats have anything that can even closely match that? No! The Democrats had a 60-seat majority for a short time in the Senate with the national trifecta and what did they do with it? Nothing! They barely passed a watered-down healthcare bill that pissed everyone off and then went of into the proverbial wilderness for years because of it! Can you see my point?! Democrats are continually feckless and then they pout and go home. Republicans, on the other hand, never go home, they go to their underground lair to plot their next move.
Donald Trump got all Democrats to the polls in 2018, just to lose seats in the House in 2020! If the Democrats can’t channel some anger here and actually unabashedly stand for something here and make gains, then I will have lost all hope. I’m sick of Democrats being scared of how Republicans will portray them, and I’m sick of losing to them all the time. Enough! It’s time for Democrats to finally play the long game and actually stick it out. And now it is I say to all Democrats: What are you going to do about it?
AJA: A song I have been singing for decades. What will they do about it? My vote…they’ll continue what they have done for decades. It’s built in and will never change.
LikeLike
The Emoluments Clause is more a norm for respectable behavior than a law. I suppose Democrats could have filed a suit, which the courts would have been loath to hear and which likely would have accomplished nothing. The Emoluments Clause, unenforceable, is dead.
LikeLike