Is SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts brimming with pride over what his presidential immunity ruling has fostered?  I mean, he is obviously a smart guy so he had to have known what Trump would do if he became president again.  He must have known that Trump would wield this power as a sword and shield.  He must have known that Trump would use this sword to do whatever he wanted to do in striking down his political enemies and anyone else who crossed him in any way, including the judicial branch up to and including the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), and then use this shield to protect him from prosecution even when prosecution is deserved.  He must have known all of this because this is exactly what Trump told him and the rest of the world that he would do if elected again when he was running for a second term as The Donald J. Trump of the United States of America!

SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts is just like any other American; he has his opinion about the direction in which the United States should travel and who should hold the power to make that decision.  And that is okay.  Because just like the rest of us Americans, he has a right to his opinion.  And just like any other American who has contemplated the question about which direction America should travel and who should hold the power to make that decision before forming an opinion, he must have thought about whether it should be Trump or a conglomerate of people in the system of government that the American people agreed to, via their votes, who should make it.   But what he does not have a right to, because of the position of power that he holds, is to make an arbitrary decision to unfairly influence other people that hold power just like his to vote a certain way for reasons based on something other than the law: especially since he still holds the position which allows him to have an impact on all things Trump:  He continues to have arguments that will come before the court which will require SCOTUS rulings!  That is why that when he makes speeches about what Trump and others should not be saying about Justices, judges, and the judicial system, he sounds like a complete hypocrite.

But then again – just as I said before, SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts is just like any other American.  Far too often most of us make decisions regarding politics with our hearts and not our heads.  Far too many of us are low information constituents when it comes to matters involving governance and since the politics of it all is even more convoluted, we have no real idea of why our elected politicians do what they do.  Therefore, even when their reasons for voting a certain way are not nefarious, because they are in opposition to our own, we are suspicious of them and tend to detest them.  To add to the confusion, the American system of government is a complicated one which at times can be extremely messy.  Our system of government has state laws around the country consisting of rules and regulations which are meant to protect each states citizens that tend to impede progress on state and federal projects to the point of slowing it to a crawl or completely halting it.  This makes things hard on politicians whose intentions to fairly govern are genuine but who are unable to navigate this complicated system well enough to enlighten their constituents as to why they voted the way that they did.

But SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts part in all things Trump, although it has been alluded to in this article, thus far, has not yet been clearly addressed.  The best way to begin to address his part in this whole Trump mess is to state that he is neither a low information constituent nor does he not understand the American system of government or the politics involved in it.  SCOTUS Chief Justice Roberts, even if his intentions are good and he is desperately trying to find a way to remove the roadblocks that exist at the federal and state levels to expeditiously and effectively move America forward, knows that unilaterally vesting all power in the executive branch of government or using his position of power to unfairly influence his fellow justices to vote to make rulings based on something other than law and providing presidential immunity, is not the way to do it.  SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts is likely a good man who has a right to his opinion just like any other American.  And again, that is okay; and I would push back against anyone who says that he does not have that right.  But what he does not have is the right to allow that opinion to unfairly impact on how he interprets the law and how he determines his rulings.

I am among those who would be least likely to come to SCOTUS Justice John Roberts defense because I am not convinced that the part that he has played in the Trump mess is the result of an unbiased interpretation of the law and not that of a politician in a long black robe.  Having said that, I am compelled to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to a final determination as to how he feels about the way Trump is currently conducting himself.  I hold the opinion that he is disgusted by it… even if he does have a unitary executive theory swagger about him.  In his position, SCOTUS Chief Justice John Roberts must assure that he presents himself to the American people as an unbiased arbiter of the law and not as a worthy adversary to be reckoned with because of bias or any appearance of bias.

Because the American democracy is teetering on the edge of disaster and at this point it appears that the courts are the only thing that is preventing it from toppling over into the abyss of authoritarianism, it behooves every American who is a low information constituent or completely uninformed, to get informed and stay informed.  That way, all Americans who want to keep America a democratic country can stand in the gap along with the courts, get in the fight, and stay in the fight to assure that this will be the case.  Then, during the 2026 midterm election and the 2028 presidential election we can elect politicians to office who will honor their oath of office, including a president who will nominate people of integrity and honor, regardless of their party affiliation, to fill those positions which require people of integrity and honor to run them.

So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican, or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!

Eulus Dennis – author, M2: Street Cop To Top Cop, Operation Rubik’s Cube, and Living Between The Line