Josh Marshall:
In a hearing today about the president’s bulldozing of the East
Wing of the White House and plans to build a vast ballroom, a
judge asked if the president could also bulldoze the Statue of
Liberty and be subject to no legal challenge. The DOJ lawyer,
Yaakov Roth, said that yes, President Trump could decide tomorrow
to bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and no one could
stop him.It was a good question from DC Court of Appeals Judge Patricia
Millett since it brings the arguments and their implications
clearly into the open. Reframe the question and the absurdity of
this proposition becomes even more clear. If you hire someone to
administer your estate, can they burn down the buildings on your
estate or chop it up into parcels and sell it off? Presumably not.
You hired them to run it, not to destroy it or sell it. It’s not
theirs. They were hired for a specific task. That person is your
employee. The president is hired to administer the country and
enforce its laws for four years. He doesn’t own the country or its
properties.
Pathetic lickspittles, one and all.
