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Fiendish Thingy

(22,411 posts)

21. Not as black and white as it seems

Sun Jan 11, 2026, 10:54 AM

Jan 11

From your link:

The Post examined 337 lawsuits in total, finding 165 cases in which judges had ruled against the administration. The Trump White House has been accused of “defying or frustrating court oversight” in 57 cases, or around 35 percent of rulings or orders made against them, the analysis found — an unprecedented amount, according to legal experts speaking to the publication

“Frustrating court oversight” is legalese for playing procedural games as a form of delaying compliance with a court order, which Trump is an expert at as we have seen. That is distinct from openly defying a court order, which has only happened a handful of times.

Note that neither the article at your link, and the WaPo report it references, distinguishes between or defines what the difference is between “frustrating judicial oversight” and open defiance, nor do they give any specific examples of the former.

Despite this administration’s acting with lawless impunity, we must remember this one absolute truth:

Trump is not omnipotent, and the states and the people are not powerless

I think the more interesting, and important, question is: if this administration is truly a wholly unrestrained dictatorship, why do they comply at all?

At the very least Somebody is afraid of going to jail, or more likely, getting disbarred, and so is probably aggressively advocating for compliance with orders that can’t be gamed in court.

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Every time someone says, Trump can't do it because it's illegal? [View all] RoeVWade Jan 11 OP

Or when a cable news anchor cites polls gab13by13 Jan 11 #1

"illegal" is more an obstacle to him, appears to me. RoeVWade Jan 11 #2

Why the name? bigmonk Jan 11 #3

Many of us personally know good people who are named mwmisses4289 Jan 11 #9

I never refer to him as president. Can't bring myself to put those two words together. Katinfl Jan 11 #12

I usually refer to him as t. mwmisses4289 Jan 11 #18

My husband and I call him the idiot. Katinfl Jan 11 #22

People are in total denial and it is impossible to budge them to face reality. Irish_Dem Jan 11 #4

Maybe that's it. Normally, I consider myself optimist. I'm optimistic Trump can eventually be crushed with facts and RoeVWade Jan 11 #7

You are a balanced optimist who sees hope that Trump can be defeated. Irish_Dem Jan 11 #8

Pretty much, yup. Hope to stay that way. RoeVWade Jan 11 #10

What you call negativity I would call reality. Irish_Dem Jan 11 #16

I thought markie Jan 11 #5

I kind of got that. RoeVWade Jan 11 #13

There was a discussion here on DU just a few days ago with a poster niyad Jan 11 #14

And when a judge rules against the Trump administration Chasstev365 Jan 11 #6

Given that they consistently have, yes EdmondDantes_ Jan 11 #15

Here Chasstev365 Jan 11 #17

Not as black and white as it seems Fiendish Thingy Jan 11 #21

Actually they have complied with rulings restraining their actions most of the time Fiendish Thingy Jan 11 #20

I remember being told that Biden couldn't do anything with the "absolute immunity" granted by SCOTUS Orrex Jan 11 #11

His administration indeed acts with lawless impunity Fiendish Thingy Jan 11 #19