The Left’s War on the Supreme Court Just Hit a Terrifying New Low by John Yoo

Recommendable! Very concerning!

Unfortunately, Yoo does not go further back in history (i.e. before the administration of President Obama) to make his argument! Very regrettable!

"Last week, The New York Times divulged a fresh trove of confidential internal memoranda between the Supreme Court justices. The documents allegedly show that Chief Justice John Roberts and his conservative colleagues have abused the Court’s technical procedures to block the agenda of Democratic presidents and to favor Republicans. While this accusation can only succeed by ignoring the broader context of the Court’s work, it heralds the latest progressive attack on the Court as a stabilizing institution in our national politics. ...

But the Times report represents a greater affront than just a leak about procedural tussling within the Supreme Court. Last week’s leak of the Court’s memos represents the third breach of the Court’s confidential deliberations in the last four years. It began with the leak — for the first time in American history — of a draft Supreme Court opinion in Dobbs in 2022, which overturned Roe v. Wade. It continued with a 2024 New York Times story based on documents and interviews that detailed the deliberations behind Trump v. United States, which held the former president immune from federal prosecution for his official acts."

The Left’s War on the Supreme Court Just Hit a Terrifying New Low | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Yes, President Trump Can unilaterally Withdraw from NATO by John Yoo

Maybe President Trump should indeed withdraw the US from NATO! Let the Europeans do their own defense for once!

Such a withdrawal would certainly make President Trump an outstanding US president! Would be great for his legacy!

An exit from NATO would also free up the US to go forward in foreign affairs etc.

Caveat: I did not read the entire, long article by John Yoo.

"The Iran war has had the unintended consequence of undermining the West’s preeminent postwar alliance. Disappointed by the refusal of European allies to assist the United States, the Trump administration is floating the possibility of exiting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Critics argue that the president cannot terminate a treaty on his own.

But the Constitution is clear: Presidents can indeed unilaterally end U.S. participation in international agreements. If Donald Trump wants to tear up the NATO treaty, he can just do it. And in June, the Supreme Court may even provide implicit support for such an exercise of presidential power. ..."

Yes, President Trump Can Withdraw from NATO "He has the constitutional authority to do so. That doesn’t mean he should"

Sorry, the 46th President’s Pardons Are Much Worse Than Trump’s by John Yoo et al.

In some sense this is correct, but the massive indiscriminate January 6th pardons by President Trump leave stains on his legacy. Probably, far outweighed by his achievements by the end of his second term.

"... Contrast that with Trump’s clemency, which did not directly benefit him or his family, and covered defendants who were actually convicted or charged, unlike [the 46th President] ’s preemptive pardons that covered up to 10 years’ worth of potential and actual criminal activity for his family and allies.

In Trump’s case, almost all of the defendants had undergone arrest, trial, conviction, and punishment. If Trump had followed [the 46th President]’s example, as all future presidents may, he would have issued blanket pardons for all of the January 6 defendants on January 7, 2021. But he did not, and instead allowed the criminal justice system to proceed first, measured the results, and then decided whether pardons were warranted. ..."

Sorry, Biden’s Pardons Are Much Worse Than Trump’s | American Enterprise Institute - AEI

Kamala Harris vs. the Constitution: Disregard for Law, Contempt for Constitutional Process by John Yoo

Recommendable!

Among many other things, Mistress Kamala helped funding the violent and criminal BLM [Black Lives Matter] movement!

Kamala Harris vs. the Constitution: Disregard for Law, Contempt for Constitutional Process | National Review (behind paywall)"She has displayed a disregard for law, a contempt for constitutional processes, and a readiness to use prosecutorial power against political opponents."

President Dwight Eisenhower: A General Keeps the Peace with John Yoo

Very recommendable!

Trump's 'banana republic' conviction won't be Democrats' last — unless there is 'retaliation in kind': UC Berkeley law prof John Yoo

Very recommendable! John Yoo said it well!

"... "The superficiality of the facts and the vagueness of the crimes magnify the harm that Democrats have inflicted on our political norms," wrote the former deputy assistant attorney general. "Make no mistake, Democrats have crossed a constitutional Rubicon." ...

Yoo issued a note of caution: The "weakness of the case against Trump lowers the bar for prosecuting future presidents below that for prosecuting garden-variety criminals in New York City." ...

"Regardless of the trial's outcome, its consequences will have a profound effect on the presidency. The weaker the Trump cases are, the more open the invitation is to future prosecutors of presidents of the opposite party," wrote Yoo. "After this Trump trial, any city, county, or state prosecutor might be encouraged to prosecute any federal officer for conjured violations of a state's criminal law or other patently partisan reasons." ..."

Trump's 'banana republic' conviction won't be Democrats' last — unless there is 'retaliation in kind': UC Berkeley law prof | Blaze Media John Yoo says it's time to turn the tables and get prosecuting for the sake of the criminal justice system.

The Case for a Special Counsel to Investigate the Bidens. Really!

One of the two authors, i.e. John Yoo, seems to be strangely naive here in this case!

First, we need to impeach General Attorney Merrick Garland! Who is he kidding!

The Case for a Special Counsel to Investigate the Bidens | National Review To save the DOJ’s rapidly deteriorating reputation, it is high time for Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel.

Biden Eviction Moratorium Extension: Executive Overreach

Recommendable! The demented and senile 46th President is preparing for his impeachment!

"It is rare for a president to undertake an action that the Supreme Court has just found illegal. It is rarer still for a president to do so lacking any principled constitutional grounds, and even conceding that most scholars and judges considered it to be, in fact, unconstitutional. Rarest of all is for a president to admit that his decision merely attempted to game the judicial system. ...
We have both served as advisers to past presidents and supported broad readings of executive power to respond to emergencies. But the Biden administration’s claims of power go far beyond the constitutional text that structures our government and are unique in the history of the executive. These claims disregard the president’s fundamental duty to “take care that the laws are faithfully executed.” Last January, Biden took an oath to discharge that duty. He has violated his oath. ...
In March 2020, as part of its response to the COVID emergency, Congress imposed a temporary moratorium on evictions from rental properties that had participated in federal-assistance programs or had federally backed loans. Congress then extended the moratorium through January 31, 2021. Thereafter the CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] — acting unilaterally and without legislative authorization — extended the moratorium three times, up to July 31. The CDC’s moratorium had a far broader sweep in that it applied to all rental properties in the nation, even those that did not involve federal funds or loans. ..."

Biden Eviction Moratorium Extension: Executive Overreach | National Review Presidents do have broad authority to deal with emergencies. But what Biden has done exceeds any such justification.

Taiwan by John Yoo

Very recommendable!



" ... Rather than bend to China’s pressure on Taiwan, the United States should consider rebuilding its military and political ties to the island. Taiwan, which General Douglas MacArthur once called “an unsinkable aircraft carrier,” occupies a vital strategic position in the region. Not only does it sit 100 miles off the Chinese mainland, but it is also 200 miles from the Philippines, 700 miles from Japan, and 900 miles from Vietnam. Taiwan plays the forward position in the “first island chain” (running from Japan, through the Ryuku Islands, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, and on to Australia) that can hem in the Chinese Navy if it seeks to break out to deeper Pacific waters. ... Conversely, allowing the CCP to possess Taiwan would inflict a serious strategic blow to the United States. Beijing would gain an advanced economy, a base for its thousands of ballistic missiles, and a deep-water port from which to project power into the midst of America’s regional allies.  ... The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic only highlights the differences between Taiwanese democracy and the CCP’s authoritarianism. A mass of evidence shows that Beijing covered up the outbreak, suppressed researchers and doctors who tried to raise the alarm, and even allowed travelers from Wuhan to fly to the rest of the world even while quarantining them within China. By contrast, Taiwanese officials closely monitored the outbreak on the mainland, quickly shut off travel, and instituted a strict testing and contact tracing regime. In a country of 23 million, the Taipei government has limited the coronavirus to only 440 cases and seven deaths. ..."



Taiwan | Hoover Institution As the confrontation between the United States and China intensifies, Taiwan will occupy a pivotal place. Since becoming the site of the exiled Nationalist Chinese government after the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) conquest of mainland China in 1949, the island state has become a flourishing and prosperous liberal democracy boasting the 21st-largest economy in the world.

A 'WHO' For Democracies by John Yoo

Very recommendable! I agree with John Yoo that it is high time for Western democracies to seriously evaluate to abandon global organisations like the WHO to form a new organisation based on such essential Western values such as constitutional democracy, transparency, and accountability. 



A 'WHO' For Democracies | Hoover Institution The pandemic has thrown the defects of the existing world order into sharp relief.  Most obviously, it has exposed the deficiencies of the World Health Organization (WHO) due to excessive Chinese influence over its leadership.

President Trump & Qasem Soleimani -- Lessons from the U.S. Showdown with the Barbary Pirates

Recommendable!

It is a little bit troubling that John Yoo did not mention Stephen Decatur at all in his article. A surprising oversight?

Don't forget: "Although history remembers them as outlaws, the Barbary pirates were in fact autonomous regions — Algiers, Tripoli, and Tunis — within the Ottoman Empire, joined by an independent nation, Morocco. Their leaders attacked the shipping of other nations, seized cargos and ships, and sold captured sailors into slavery. Since the days of the Continental Congress, the United States had essentially paid bribes, in the form of tribute (amounting to $10 million under Washington and Adams), to the Barbary nations to allow American shipping to proceed unhindered. Jefferson’s accession to the presidency coincided with demands for higher payments and the impressment of a U.S. Navy frigate, the USS George Washington, by the Dey of Algiers as a courier vessel. Jefferson had long disliked the policy of paying tribute."

Bravo Thomas Jefferson!

President Trump & Qasem Soleimani -- Lessons from the U.S. Showdown with the Barbary Pirates | National Review: While Donald Trump and Thomas Jefferson may be very different presidents, they both drew on constitutional authority to protect American interests abroad.

Emancipation Proclamation 150 Years Later

Posted: 1/4/2013

Trigger

The American Enterprise Institute published a paper by John Yoo titled “The Emancipation Proclamation's unforgettable lesson about presidential power”. The article e.g. emphasized following excerpt “The link between the Emancipation Proclamation and Lincoln’s broad view of presidential power should cause us to reflect on current controversies over the executive.”

Some Reflections On The American Civil War

Was the American Civil War really worth fighting for? Over 750,000 soldiers and a still undetermined number of civilians died because of this Civil War.

The balance of power of states vs. central government was permanently shifted towards the federal government; it was demonstrated that the Commander in Chief could subdue any state or group of states if necessary and so on.

What If Or Lessons Learnt

What would have happened if the Union had only defended against any attacks by the Confederacy instead of an all out war to defeat the rebellious Confederacy? What would have happened had the Union just ignored, but not accepted the secession of the Confederacy?

Would it not have been much cheaper in treasure and blood to just to buy off slaves from southern states? We know in hindsight that the Civil War did not end racism, which would take another 100 years and more.

Slavery Was Already Nearing Historical Extinction

Slavery would have been phased out over time anyway with or without the Civil War. Brilliant men like Abraham Lincoln should have been aware of that. Whether, the Civil War expedited this phase out is debatable and at what cost.

The Vermont constitution of 1777 was the first document in the United States to abolish slavery.

In 1807 the British abolished the slave trade with their colonies. In the Caribbean, slavery was abolished by British Parliamentary fiat, effective July 31, 1834, when 776,000 slaves in the British plantation colonies were freed and so on and so on.

It was only a matter of time …