Marco Rubio Doesn’t Know How Many Gov’t Branches There Are But Is Sure None Of Them Can Tell Trump ‘No’
from the rule-of-law-is-for-suckers dept
Here we go again with the party of the “rule of law.” The rule of law doesn’t apply to the Trump Administration. It only applies to the victims of its vindictive policies.
But the least it could do is get some basic facts straight before talking out of its ass about whatever new fascist scheme it wants to deploy. And who better to display his ignorance of the law (which used to be no excuse) than the man who spent some time being Trump’s punching bag before convincing the Big Boss he could be a valuable bootlicker.
Anchor baby Rubio used to be nothing more than an opportunistic senator who hitched his wagon to Trump’s star. It took several years for that risky bet to pay off. When Trump returned to office for a belated victory lap in 2024, Rubio was elevated to the position of Secretary of State, a position he has absolutely no qualifications for. That certainly doesn’t make him unique in the Trump Administration, but perhaps explains why he’s so bad at everything he’s doing now, including (apparently) being able to remember basic facts about the US government.
On his way to claiming Trump has no masters, Rubio swept away an entire branch of government in his haste to defend the administration’s actions in its War on Brown People. Here’s how that went down in a recent Senate hearing, as reported by Hafiz Rashid for The New Republic.
After first insulting the senator who actually went to visit Kilmer Abrego Garcia — someone the Trump Administration has openly admitted it mistakenly sent to an El Salvadoran maximum security prison — by claiming (without facts in evidence) that Garcia is a “human trafficker” Senator Chris Van Hollen “had margaritas with” — Rubio went on to claim no one can take Trump down.
His reasoning for this claim? Well, it involves vanishing an entire branch of the US government before moving on to claim the courts don’t have the power to prevent the King from cooking.
“There is a division in our government between the federal branch and the judicial branch. No judge, and the judicial branch, cannot tell me or the president how to conduct foreign policy,” Rubio said. “No judge can tell how I have to outreach to a foreign partner or what I need to say to them. And if do reach to that foreign partner and talk to them, I am under no obligation to share that with the judiciary branch.”
Well, there are actually three branches. Rubio may have chosen to forget the legislative branch since he’s been elevated out of it. But even if he just meant to delineate the difference between these two branches, he’s still wrong. That’s why there are three branches: to ensure no single branch consolidates so much power it can’t be held back by the other two branches.
But that’s exactly what Rubio goes on to assert: the executive branch is at the top of the republic’s food chain. And when the King is hungry, he eats. In addition, everyone appointed to an executive position — despite their complete lack of qualifications or skills — is above the rest of the co-equal branches.
So, it’s all wrong. It’s all very disturbing. Rubio is saying all of this out loud, not caring what the legislative and judicial branches think of his proclamations. He truly believes the executive branch answers to no one. And even if he doesn’t truly believe this, he’s pushing this narrative on behalf of his benefactor (singular!).
It shouldn’t surprise anyone. This is what the administration has been claiming in court, albeit far more subtly. First, it’s alleging its power grabs are unable to be questioned by courts. Second, it’s refusing to comply with court orders. And, finally, it’s openly daring the rest of the government to do something — anything! — about it.
Everything Rubio said here is something Trump and his highest ranking officials truly believe: the President answers to no one. They’re wrong (in terms of the law) but so far they’ve been mostly right because the other branches are failing their duties to act as a check against the administration’s unprecedented power grabs. Rubio is still just a foot soldier who will be discarded as soon as Trump’s done with him. But he’s letting all of us know exactly what the administration thinks about being part of an operative democratic republic: it wants no part of this.
Filed Under: autocracy, basic civics, civics 101, donald trump, marco rubio, party of law and order, power grab
Comments on “Marco Rubio Doesn’t Know How Many Gov’t Branches There Are But Is Sure None Of Them Can Tell Trump ‘No’”
Yeah the President has always been able to do whatever they want, no exceptions. It had always been this way. If you are from Mandela Universe 1, you’re gonna be deported.
Was he talking about the national security state (the de-facto fourth branch)?
Congress is in dereliction of its duty to hold Trump in check. If they are not going to be the adults in the room and act responsibly, they all need to go.
was rubio heard to mutter “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”
Sec. Rubio is the 21st century’s perfect American conservative: servile member of a racial minority blindly repeating whatever his employer tells him. His bloviating is endless and entirely vapid, just aimless mouth sounds he uses to fill time and distract listeners. I don’t think one could find a better example of how his party at large has torched any semblance of consistent policy or political theory in the GOP. Nearly every single major position he advocates today for his felonious bossman has already been opposed at length on the campaign trail and in the Congressional Record by Senator Rubio. It’s an understatement to call them “flip flops.” His entire political philosophy has reversed from fighting the evils he perceived in Communist central control to insisting his boss and his boss alone is the sole root of government power, the Constitution, Congress, and the Courts be damned.
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very muddled post with no clear point or argument….
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Evidently, you missed the headline, which spells out the point.
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It was hardly muddled, and its point was quite clear: Marco Rubio is playing fast and loose with his sophistic approach to answering questions from the legislative branch which he pretends doesn’t exist despite his many years serving in that branch. This is all a transparently fumbling attempt to rationalize the Authoritarian Yarvin philosophy of an infallible king/CEO reigning without constraint.
TL/DR: Rubio is a stooge enabler who will soon meet the same fate as the stooges before him.
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Translation: “I can’t read, and that’s a fault of the author.”
Ah yes, Marco Bubio.
Every government employee takes an oath to the Constitution of the United States
So it raises some interesting questions what happens when, say, the US Army is deployed to clean sweep civilians without a lick of due process.
Last time, a general who was a Trump loyalist, felt bad CS-gassing BLM protestors to clear a path for the President for a church photo op. I’m curious what happens when less-Trump-loyalists are given orders like that. They may have to feel bad after some engagements first, but historically, this is the fabric from which mutinies are commonly sewn.
>the executive branch is at the top of the republic’s food chain.
*This offer only applies when Republicans are in power. Terms and conditions apply. We assume no liability for any losses or damages arising from our own actions. By having this agreement forced upon you, you accept liability and indemnify Republicans against all insults, lawsuits, and factually accurate yet unfavorable depictions.
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The biggest tell in my mind that republicans have no interest in allowing any presidential(and potentially congressional) election worth the name to take place going forward has got to be their rush to give the office of president effectively unchecked power over the government and country.
If they thought for a second that a democrat might hold that power in just a few short years I imagine they’d be a lot less keen on giving it to Trump, even if it meant not giving him everything he might want right now.
The rule of law:
I rule, therefore, I am the law.
Well, he did transport himself from El Salvador to the US without asking his own permission to go on that journey. Doesn’t that count as human trafficking?
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“Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation.”
Nope, not by any commonly understood definition.
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Way to tell everyone you lack reading comprehension without outright stating you lack reading comprehension.
TL;DR: *whooooooooooooooosh!*
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Whoooosh! This guy didn’t understand what he responded to and said whooosh like it meant someone else didn’t understand!
Saying out loud what the courts have said less indirectly
To be fair he’s basically just repeating what the US supreme court said when they ruled that republican presidents are above the law, and what numerous other judges have effectively said when they refused to hold convicted felon Trump accountable over the years.
When a person has gone their entire life never being held accountable it’s not surprising for them to come to believe that they are indeed above the law and answer to no-one, because that’s what their experience has shown them.