“(With) today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed. For all practical purposes, there are virtually no limits on what the president can do. It’s a fundamentally new principle and it’s a dangerous precedent because the power of the office will no longer be constrained by the law even including the supreme court of the United States.”
Throughout his address, Biden underscored the gravity of the moment, emphasizing that the only barrier to the president’s authority now lies in the personal restraint of the officeholder. He warned vehemently against the prospect of Trump returning to power, painting a stark picture of the dangers such an outcome could pose.
Right, murica is no longer a democracy in practice if this stands.
Sorta. It’s a democracy with the voting and all that at this time. Since the person holding presidency is now above the law, then as long as the current president decides that we get to continue to have a republic, then we’re a republic. The moment a US president decides that it needs to be an official act to end voting, or just stall on voting indefinitely, then we stop being a republic. Basically, we’re living on borrowed time until the “by the people” part of the US nation is taken away by whomever we voted in as president last.
President Biden has the idea that he should respect the Constitution. He’s unlikely to decide to end the republic. If he gets reelected (and the conservatives don’t just kick off a civil war trying to end the election like they failed to do back in 2020), then we buy at least a few more years. Then… we go into a cycle where if benevolent dictators keep getting elected we stay afloat. The moment a populist gets elected president who also doesn’t personally decide to not take over as dictator, the republic ends.