• Pratai@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    187
    arrow-down
    5
    ·
    1 year ago

    Doesn’t matter. This is America where things like that are ignored. This is how people like Clarence Thomas can keep their job. Corruption and criminality are rewarded in America. But only if you’re in politics.

    • IronCorgi@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      86
      ·
      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
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        70
        arrow-down
        2
        ·
        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
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          15
          ·
          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
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            7
            ·
            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.

          • Menachem
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 year ago

            ah but you see, an immortal ruler would be truly above all the petty bickering of normal politics and able to put the needs of the many first, without being influenced by moneyed interests. It’s the obvious next step to improve upon the lifetime appointments of our incorruptible, incontrovertible supreme court!

        • ScrollinMyDayAway@lemm.ee
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          18
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          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
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            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.

    • Rivalarrival@lemmy.today
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 year ago

      You are free to sue to keep his name off the ballot. I don’t think a court would side with you until he has been duly convicted, but we can hope.

      • FReddit@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yes. An exception would seem to be Bernie Madoff. But it wasn’t the amount of money.

        He had to be punished because he ripped off other rich people.

          • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            edit-2
            1 year ago

            What? No. Or at least, “not quite” depending on how you meant that.

            Wealthy people are given the same passes as politicians. Both are treated better than the rest of us. The criminal justice system exists almost exclusively to punish the second category.

        • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          You literally ended your comment with “only if you’re in politics.”

          Relax, though. We’re all on the same side here. I upvoted your original post. I just wanted it to be clear that wealthy people are also immune. They are also often rewarded for their misdeeds after they hire a PR team to spin things.